Agronomy

Project summary

Policy objective: PO2 – A greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation and risk prevention and management

Specific objective: SO6 – Promoting the transition to a circular and resource efficient economy

Typology: capitalisation project

The agri-food sector in the programme area is going through a very difficult time, revealing its fragility and vulnerability not only to the effects of climate change but also to the consequences of the recent pandemic and the ongoing armed conflict. Therefore, it is crucial to develop circular and resource efficient food production systems, which are less dependent from energy and raw material and can provide locally sourced high quality sustainable products. In this context, BeBlue - Beyond Bluegrass aims at capitalizing the achievements of the BLUEGRASS project, which successfully introduced in the programme area aquaponics, a sustainable and innovative food production technology based on circular economy principles. Aquaponics combines soilless agriculture and fish farming in a single recycling system that optimizes the use of natural resources needed to produce fish feed. Cross-border cooperation is a qualifying and essential element of the project, which will allow the achievement of the project objectives: BeBlue partners will ensure the integration of technical-scientific expertise, connections with operators/stakehold and capacity of involving them in participatory processes.

Objectives

BeBlue aims to disseminate aquaponics through actions aimed at:

• facilitating the management of aquaponic systems, through digitalization; attracting investments, by developing tools for assessing environmental and economic sustainability, which can be used in the preparation of business plans; extending the range of products, by combining the production of marine fish with that of salicornia, a plant that can tolerate high salinity, and macroalgae; adding value to products, by informing consumers, large-scale retailers and operators in the HORECA sector; including aquaponics in urban regeneration plans.

Output

BeBlue - Beyond Bluegrass aims at capitalizing the achievements of the BLUEGRASS project, which successfully introduced in the programme area aquaponics, a sustainable and innovative food production technology based on circular economy principles.

Partners

• Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia
• Univerza v Ljubljani
• Kmetijska Zadruga Agraria Koper, z.o.o.
• Shoreline Società Cooperativa
• Kmetijsko gozdarska zbornica Slovenije,
• Kmetijsko gozdarski zavod Kranj
• Lega Regionale Cooperative e Mutue del Veneto