The overall goal of AIRCOAT is to make European waterborne transport more energy efficient and less polluting by developing a disruptive hull coating that reduces the frictional resistance of ships. The AIRCOAT project will enhance a passive air lubrication technology that utilises the biomimetic Salvinia effect. This effect enables trapping air through combination of a hydrophobic micro-structured surface with hydrophilic pins. The project will technologically implement this effect on a self-adhesive foil system. Applying a ship with such an AIRCOAT foil will produce a thin permanent air layer, which reduces the overall frictional resistance while acting as a physical barrier between water and hull surface. Besides substantially reducing main engine fuel oil consumption and hence exhaust gas emission, the air barrier further inhibits the attachment of fouling, the release of biocide substances (of underlying coatings) to the water and mitigates the radiation of ship noise. As a refit technology, it is immediately applicable to the whole fleet, is independent of the fuel type and can be combined with other efficiency improving technologies. Consequently, the technology creates both an economical and an environmental benefit. The interdisciplinary AIRCOAT consortium will develop small-scale prototypes to optimise the surface characteristics of this new technology supported by experimental and numerical methods. AIRCOAT will further produce large-scale pilots to demonstrate the efficiency and industrial feasibility in operational environments (laboratory, research ships and container ship). Finally, the project will perform a full-scale validation process to boost the technology towards market readiness. The AIRCOAT project will demonstrate the high potential of this game-changing technology to revolutionise the maritime coating sector and to become a ground-breaking future energy efficiency and emission reduction technology.

<< Objectives >>The key project objective is to develop and deliver an intensive and specific pilot e-training and onsite program in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS), in a 'train-the-trainer' format, to close the gap between traditional aquaculture VET and the changing needs of industry. Target beneficiaries will gain competencies in innovative digital and land-based Recirculating Aquaculture System technology, ensuring teacher, trainer, and student skills match the needs of changing labour market.<< Implementation >>Theoretical and hands-on training modules will be developed and delivered including 8 hours of self paced online content and a 5 day intensive training hosted at a research RAS facility in Malta, through cooperation between Val educational institution and innovative SME company ABT, which has global experience developing and producing RAS facilities. Course content will be developed by RAS engineers, fish health experts, and water quality specialists and improved through feedback surveys.<< Results >>Following the pilot, Val teachers, ABT Innovia trainers and Norweigan RAS technicians will have learned practical skills that will strengthen their own knowledge base and can be disseminated to their students and trainees. They will be better equipped to initiate RAS work and to support learners to develop vital industry skills for enhanced job readiness. Plans will be in place to deliver improved future iterations of the course to the identified interested groups such as schools & companies.

MARIBE is a Horizon 2020 project that aims to unlock the potential of multi-use of space in the offshore economy (also referred to as Blue Economy). This forms part of the long-term Blue Growth (BG) strategy to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors as a whole; something which is at the heart of the Integrated Maritime Policy, the EU Innovation Union, and the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable growth. Within the Blue Economy, there are new and emerging sectors comprising technologies that are early stage and novel. These are referred to as Blue Growth sectors and they have developed independently for the most part without pursuing cooperation opportunities with other sectors. MARIBE investigates cooperation opportunities (partnerships, joint ventures etc.) for companies within the four key BG sectors in order to develop these companies and their sectors and to promote the multi-use of space in the offshore economy. The sectors are Marine Renewable Energy, Aquaculture, Marine Biotechnology and Seabed Mining. MARIBE links and cross-cuts with the Transatlantic Ocean Research Alliance and the Galway Statement by reviewing the three European basins (Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Baltic) as well as the Caribbean Basin. The project begins with an assessment of the current Blue Growth economy. A socio-economic study of the various Blue Growth sectors will be undertaken. Existing business models will be mapped according to best practice methodology, cognisant of their value chains. The technical and non-technical challenges of the business will be identified and proposals made for their mitigation. Key FP7 projects that focus on multi-use of space and multi-use platforms will also be assessed. The consortium will draw on this study to identify key opportunities for synergistic collaboration. It will examine 24 sectoral combinations in total and 12 of those with high potential will be developed further. To do this, MARIBE will work with selected EU-funded consortia (particularly those involved in the Oceans of Tomorrow projects) to develop cross-sectoral projects. It will also work with a range of academic and industry partners to develop projects within 5 additional sectoral combinations that present potential for synergistic collaboration. The MARIBE partners will take a hands-on approach to developing collaboration, brokering partnerships where necessary and assisting with the creation of the business plans and implementation plans required to secure investment for these 12 projects.

The warming of the climate system is unequivocal and continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes. Islands are particularly vulnerable to Climate Change (CC) consequences but the coarse spatial resolution of available projections makes it difficult to derive valid statements for islands. Moreover, science-based information about the economic impacts of CC in marine and maritime sectors is scarce, and current economic models lack of solid non-market assesment. Policy makers must have accurate information about likely impact chains and about the costs and benefits of possible strategies to implement efficient measures. SOCLIMPACT aims at modelling downscaled CC effects and their socioeconomic impacts in European islands for 2030–2100, in the context of the EU Blue Economy sectors, and assess corresponding decarbonisation and adaptation pathways, complementing current available projections for Europe, and nourishing actual economic models with non-market assessment, by: • Developing a thorough understanding on how CC will impact the EU islands located in different regions of the world. • Contributing to the improvement of the economic valuation of climate impacts by adopting revealed and stated preference methods. • Increasing the effectiveness of the economic modelling of climate impact chains, through the implementation of an integrated methodological framework (GINFORS, GEM-E3 and non-market indicators). • Facilitating climate-related policy decision making for Blue Growth, by ranking and mapping the more appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies. • Delivering accurate information to policy makers, practitioners and other relevant stakeholders. SOCLIMPACT addresses completely this Work Programme providing advances in the economic valuation of climate-induced impacts, and in climate and economic models, allowing downscaled projections of complex impact chains, and facilitating the resilience capacity of these vulnerable lands.