Building Innovation Capacity in the Blue Economy — Our First AquaSphere Event in Crete
We’re excited to share that PDR is part of the winning consortium for AquaSphere — a Horizon Europe project focused on Empowering Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) for Water and Maritime Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The project aims to position HEIs as key drivers of sustainable innovation in the blue economy, which includes maritime industries, water technologies, and broader sustainability sectors.
Our journey with AquaSphere began with the first Peer Learning Event, held on 2–3 July 2025 at the Technical University of Crete (TUC) in Chania, Greece. The event brought together project partners, academic stakeholders, and members of the blue economy’s business and entrepreneurial communities.
We’ve teamed up with Neil Coles from the Centre for Entrepreneurship, marking the beginning of a new collaboration between our two centres at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Over the two days, we took part in a packed programme designed to strengthen institutional capacity in blue economy innovation and entrepreneurship. TUC hosted a series of insightful presentations from both business and academic institutions, including talks by senior representatives from the Samaria Water Management Company, notably the President and Commercial Director.
The event wrapped up with guided tours of TUC’s research labs — Indigo Lab, SenseLab, and DISPLAY — where we saw best practices in water innovation and got a first-hand look at some of the exciting scientific and technological developments underway.
We’re looking forward to reconnecting with our AquaSphere partners this November, when the next Peer Learning Event will be hosted by the Izmir Institute of Technology in Turkey.
