The C-FAARER and A-AAgora projects are among the 2024 winners of the prestigious Atlantic Project Awards.
The Horizon Europe projects C-FAARER and A-AAgora, funded by the EU, were recognized at the 2024 Atlantic Project Awards for their contribution to promoting the blue economy in the Atlantic region while preserving marine ecosystems and supporting climate change mitigation. The awards, presented during the 11th Atlantic Stakeholder Platform Conference in Bordeaux on November 22, 2024, highlighted the achievements of projects advancing key priorities of the Atlantic Strategy.
Health, Resilience, and Cooperation
C-FAARER and A-AAgora were two of the six winners honored for their exceptional performances. The awards were presented in five categories aligned with the pillars of the Atlantic Action Plan 2.0: Atlantic Ports, Blue Skills and Ocean Knowledge, Marine Renewable Energy, Healthy Oceans and Resilient Coasts, and International Cooperation.
C-FAARER was recognized in the Healthy Oceans and Resilient Coasts category. Launched in 2023, the project helps ocean operators in the Atlantic and Arctic basins develop community-driven business models for regenerative ocean farming and assists policymakers in implementing supporting actions. C-FAARER shared this category with MSP-OR, a project supported by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund that aids national authorities in implementing maritime spatial planning in the outermost regions of Macaronesia and French Guiana.
A-AAgora was awarded in the International Cooperation category. Since its launch in 2022, the project has taken effective steps to reduce pressures on coastal areas through ecosystem-based management and nature-based solutions, enhancing climate resilience and mitigating its effects.
The Marine Renewable Energy category award went to the FLORA project. Supported by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, FLORA is developing an industrial-scale prototype of an ocean station with renewable energy production and oceanographic capabilities.
In the Atlantic Ports category, the Interreg HYDEA project, which tests the use of hydrogen and methanol as energy alternatives in fleets and vehicles in Atlantic ports, was honored. The Blue Skills and Ocean Knowledge category award was given to another Interreg project, Blueskilling Innovation, which provides individuals with the necessary skills to drive blue innovation, strengthen industrial competitiveness, and accelerate the deployment of marine renewable energy and green maritime transport technologies in the Atlantic region.
The winners were chosen from 23 diverse applications, aiming to select projects that most effectively contribute to the objectives of the Atlantic Action Plan 2.0 and demonstrate the highest potential for scalability. The C-FAARER project (Community-driven Farming for the Atlantic and Arctic sea basins through REgeneRative aquaculture) will conclude in 2025, while A-AAgora (Blueprint for Atlantic-Arctic Agora on cross-sectoral cooperation for restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems and increased climate resilience through transformative innovation) will end in 2026.
Source: cordis.europa.eu
