Another edition of the “Encontro Fora da Caixa”, a debate series promoted by Caixa Geral de Depósitos in partnership with the newspaper Observador, took place on March 21. This debate, focused on the theme ‘The Blue Economy,’ was held at the Casa da Cultura de Ílhavo and featured several speakers, including Paulo Jorge Ferreira, the Rector of the University of Aveiro (UA).
Moderated by Paulo Ferreira from Rádio Observador, this debate sought to address questions such as: What challenges and opportunities does the Blue Economy offer for Portugal’s economic and social development? Is it possible to explore the sea sustainably? And how?
The debate included interventions from José Maria Costa, Secretary of State for the Sea, Ruben Eiras, Secretary-General of Fórum Oceano, and Paulo Moita Macedo, CEO of Caixa Geral de Depósitos.
The Rector of the University of Aveiro had the closing intervention in this edition of the ‘Out of the Box Encounter,’ where he emphasized the important role of the University of Aveiro in the Blue Economy. He highlighted the Center for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), “which has intensive activity in the marine and coastal ecosystems area (…) is strongly internationalized and takes a multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to marine issues, without neglecting decision support and public policies.”
In a well-received address, Paulo Jorge Ferreira also highlighted some of the University of Aveiro’s marine-related infrastructures that are connected to the city of Ílhavo, such as CITAQUA (Center for Innovation and Technology in Aquaculture) and ECOMARE (Innovation and Sustainability Laboratory for Marine Resources). He also identified the goals of several scientific projects integrated into CESAM, such as Restore4C, BESIDE, A-AAgora, BlueCC, a recently approved Life project, WINBIG, and Sea2See, all being significant for marine research.
Towards the end, in a direct conversation with moderator Paulo Ferreira, the UA Rector also emphasized the role of the unit ‘UA Coopera’ in connecting the university with the business community and the strategic relevance of CESAM’s scientific activities and areas for the University of Aveiro.
The full debate can be watched here.