BluePortLab - Multi-use Infrastructure Spatial Concepts for the Blue Economy: Leveraging on Sustainable Port Ecosystems through Living Lab

Research Project, 2025 – 2028

The urgency of the climate crisis and the European Union's ambitious goals to transition to a sustainable, clean energy future call for innovative approaches in all sectors of the economy. The blue economy is critical to this transition, and within the blue economy ports play a critical role at the intersection of water and land. Ports are central to the blue economy’s transition as most maritime activities rely on ports for operational, regulatory, administrative, organisational, and economic functions. Ports are also central to biodiversity preservation and valorisation. The United Nations Global Compact in its practical guidance on the Sustainable Ocean Principles on ports recognises that ports are fundamental to many ocean-based activities and are, therefore, critical to sustainable ocean aspirations. We propose the BluePortLab project, supported by six European knowledge hubs (Copenhagen Business School, Chalmers University of Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Kühne Logistics University, Euro-Mediterranean University (EMUNI) of Slovenia and the University of Genoa) and critical blue economy infrastructure partners (Port of Aalborg, Trelleborg, Ravenna), covering the Baltic, North Sea and Mediterranean Sea basins. Addressing the Priority Area 2.2.2 Blue economy sectors, development of marine multi-use infrastructures, the project rethinks the role of maritime ports as hubs in the blue economy, leveraging their unique position to foster energy transition, biodiversity, and sustainable development through the development of novel maritime multiuse spatial concepts.