The seaweed sector is a huge global industry worth over $11billion per year, however it is still in relatively early stages of development in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. The industry in the UK has significant potential to deliver products for UK and international markets, from fresh seaweed for use in gourmet restaurants, to high-end pharmaceuticals, as well as large volume markets such as animal feed. All of this can be done with minimal carbon footprint and very nearly at net zero carbon, using no fresh water and only minimal land-based infrastructure. However, the growth of UK seaweed industry has struggled as a result of high input costs for seeded material (juvenile seaweed), which is traditionally done using a hatchery technique to produce a 1-2mm twine and then wrapped around ropes at a farming site. The issue is that this process can be highly time and labour intensive and therefore expensive both in terms of hatchery and farm deployment. SAMS have been involved in projects to develop an innovative solution to this problem, with a direct-seeding method, whereby the seed is attached straight onto a deployable rope and is held in a gel substrate until it has had time to bind onto the rope. Although this process will be ground breaking for the seaweed sector, the current barriers have been formulating the hydrocolloid gel to bind the seaweed and provide it with required nutrients while it goes through initial growth phases, and also developing a mechanised way of spreading the gel onto the rope substrate. The Binder2020 project will use the world-renowned seaweed expertise at the Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS), combined with the UKs leading rope manufacturer and hydrocolloid developer, to address both of these key issues. The hydrocolloid chemistry will be refined through expert input and assessment, and a new technology will be developed -- the Seaweed Binder Solution (SBS) The initial development of the Seaweed Binder Solution (SBS) through Binder 2020 will have an immediate impact for SAMS through knowledge gained. However, it is also hoped that a successful proposal will proceed through Phase 2 to allow further development and enable growth of the sector as well as contributing to recovery from economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is leading the delivery of short advanced professional education and entrepreneurship courses within the UK and EU sustainable and restorative food and aquaculture sectors. We lead on two key courses 1: INSPIRE Restorative Aquaculture and 2: Algal Biotechnology for Sustainable Food production. The Inspire Restorative Aquaculture Course encourages talented recruits to create innovative solutions, which increase the productivity and profitability of the aquaculture sector. The course will provide training and theory in seaweed farming, rural social science, finfish, shellfish, algae biology, culturing, growth, molecular and metabolite analysis; entrepreneurial content and support to develop innovative solutions and business propositions for the aquaculture sector; and a final pitch event. The programme also aims to facilitate stakeholder engagement and partnerships through access to academics, leading companies in the industry and startups working to overcome challenges in the aquaculture sector at the live online events. The course is led by The Seaweed Academy at SAMS, UK in partnership with the University of Cambridge and the Polish Academy of Science. The Seaweed Academy is the UK’s only dedicated seaweed industry facility offering a complete package of training, education, and business development, supporting expansion and skills development for the seaweed aquaculture industry. The courses will be in-person at SAMS in Oban in the West Coast Highlands. The aim of the Algal Biotechnology professional development programme is to provide introductory training and theory in algal biology, culturing, growth and biotechnology under laboratory and small scale pilot facilities. The course will also offer insights and examples from an industrial and entrepreneurial perspective, that can help the participants to found or improve their own algal-based business. The delivery of both online and in-person will ensure that new and re-established networks will occur for all delegates across an international sector and attendees. No formal qualifications are required, but attendance is made on the application where you will need to describe your reasons for attending the courses. The course is open to anyone with a Bachelor, MSc or PhD degree or substantial experience within the aquaculture sector or food system, especially those within the EU and EU and EIT Food associated countries. The course is hosted by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in partnership with the University of Cambridge Algal Innovation Centre (AIC) (UK), Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB (Germany) and Matis (Iceland).

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

The Blue Bioeconomy defined as ‘the production and conversion of renewable marine biological resources into value added products, such as food, feed, bio-based products and bioenergy’ entails a large set of opportunities for European coastal communities. Innovative business models based on circularity; short-chains, digital solutions and ecosystem contributions offer the chance to stabilize and create new enterprises and jobs also for the lower-educated; while transforming remote, rural areas also into interesting, revitalized, climatefriendly places to live. However, blue bioeconomy actors struggle with challenges related to technology, lack of knowledge & skills or regulatory barriers. BlueBioClusters brings together 13 support organizations from across Europe, all of them highly engaged in their 9 regions in assisting start-ups, companies and policy makers to make best use of innovations. They have joined forces to improve, develop and implement new support tools and methods based on systematic collection, benchmarking and joint knowledge creation on *blue biobased value chains, practice cases and incentives, WP1; *ecosystem service valorization, WP2; *technology needs, identification and transfer of solutions, WP3; *start-ups/SMEs; experts and support mechanisms (coaching; co-creation), WP4; as well as *‘Communities of Practices’ to foster long-term stakeholder cooperation within and across the regions; WP5. While we expect to create long-lasting impact already within the project lifetime itself by engaging with hundreds of actors within our regions to stimulate collaboration and actions for change; activities are designed to be continued post-project being also open for other Blue Regions, clusters and individual companies to join. To that end the inter-active BlueBioCluster portal is not only a repository of the projects’ outputs, but is set up in such way, that it will be continuously updated and maintained by and with its users also post-project

The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) is leading the delivery of short advanced professional education and entrepreneurship courses within the UK and EU sustainable and restorative food and aquaculture sectors. We lead on two key courses 1: INSPIRE Restorative Aquaculture and 2: Algal Biotechnology for Sustainable Food production. The Inspire Restorative Aquaculture Course encourages talented recruits to create innovative solutions, which increase the productivity and profitability of the aquaculture sector. The course will provide training and theory in seaweed farming, rural social science, finfish, shellfish, algae biology, culturing, growth, molecular and metabolite analysis; entrepreneurial content and support to develop innovative solutions and business propositions for the aquaculture sector; and a final pitch event. The programme also aims to facilitate stakeholder engagement and partnerships through access to academics, leading companies in the industry and startups working to overcome challenges in the aquaculture sector at the live online events. The course is led by The Seaweed Academy at SAMS, UK in partnership with the University of Cambridge and the Polish Academy of Science. The Seaweed Academy is the UK’s only dedicated seaweed industry facility offering a complete package of training, education, and business development, supporting expansion and skills development for the seaweed aquaculture industry. The courses will be in-person at SAMS in Oban in the West Coast Highlands. The aim of the Algal Biotechnology professional development programme is to provide introductory training and theory in algal biology, culturing, growth and biotechnology under laboratory and small scale pilot facilities. The course will also offer insights and examples from an industrial and entrepreneurial perspective, that can help the participants to found or improve their own algal-based business. The delivery of both online and in-person will ensure that new and re-established networks will occur for all delegates across an international sector and attendees. No formal qualifications are required, but attendance is made on the application where you will need to describe your reasons for attending the courses. The course is open to anyone with a Bachelor, MSc or PhD degree or substantial experience within the aquaculture sector or food system, especially those within the EU and EU and EIT Food associated countries. The course is hosted by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in partnership with the University of Cambridge Algal Innovation Centre (AIC) (UK), Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB (Germany) and Matis (Iceland).