EU Green Week Partner Events – GREEN&BLUE circular deals: the full force of innovation to sustain planetary health

Combining the preservation of clean and healthy oceans with sustainable agri-food systems use is one of the XXI century’s most important tasks.

The oceans are the cradle of life and harbor a vast variety of marine organisms, covering 70% of the earth’s extension, being a source of primary materials and bioactive compounds with diverse applications.

Moreover, the gradual increasing of wastes from the agricultural and food industries strongly determine the ecosystem’s health and life quality regardless their well-known potential to be used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries due to their richness in valuable natural bioactive compounds.

Global warming and anthropological intervention aided the migration and establishment of emerging toxin producers into Europe’s temperate waters, creating a new threat to human public health.

In this sense, harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) pose a challenge regarding food safety due to their erratic nature and forming circumstances yet to unravel.

Similarly, the economic pressure on resource sustainability posed by agri-food wastes has risen the development of innovative upcycling methodologies integrated in green&blue ecosystems to face the urgent need of nutrient and bioactive recovery from wasted sources of plants and overall food products.

Integrating green and blue ecosystems through innovation is an ongoing dialogue that underpins the sustainable development of planetary health (SDG 3, 14, 15).

To discuss the concrete implementation of waste and product policies that facilitate circular economy transition in cities and regions