News

Maria do Mar, a canning company that sells the image of Portugal

Fri, 24 Jan 2014 15:00:00 GMT

It is more than a store that sells Portuguese canning. It’s more than a tavern for snacking. It is more than a store of traditional Portuguese products and objects related to the sea and sardines. Maria do Mar is a place where they sell a little of Portugal.

Maria do Mar has two stores – the original, in Lagos, and the second to open in Portimão – and results from the strong will of a woman – businesswoman Ana Costa Franco – who, in 2012, if real estate and have displaced decided to invest in an industry totally new to her.

With the momentum of her husband, Pedro Franco Costa, Ana embarked on a world that claims to have ‘discovered’: ‘we had no idea that Portugal still retains this canning industry with such beautiful packaging. ”

Given that canned fish is a ‘product of excellence and a Portuguese tradition unfortunately almost lost in the Algarve“, Ana Franco thought that” made sense to pick this tradition. ”

However, Ana Franco, responding to customer requests, especially foreigners, has started selling other products related to the image of the preserved sea, in his shop in Lagos. “The sardines for tourists is an icon of Portugal, ‘says. And so it has started selling sardines in cloth, which have sold very well. But there are other ideas in development, such as photographs of canning factories Algarve black and white, old posters of some brands.

This entrepreneurial idea to combine tradition with innovation, looking for a quality result, may represent one of the bets to do and a way to go to the regional development of the Algarve.

SOURCE OF TEXT AND IMAGE: www.sulinformação.pt

HARVEST Atlantic promotes international discussion about resilient territories

Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:59:44 GMT

In a context of economic and social turmoil, resilience has new contours and takes a leading role in regional development and territorial cohesion. Being aware of the challenges facing the new dynamics associated with innovation and regional creativity, the project HARVEST Atlantic – Harnessing all resources valuable to economies of seaside territories on the Atlantic, is organizing an international workshop, that has as main objective to contribute to the definition and development of the scientific agenda at the intersections of innovation , creativity and resilience.

The event is organized by the Spatial and Organizational Dynamics Research Centre of the University of Algarve (CIEO), in partnership with the Portuguese Association for Regional Development (APDR), branch of RSAI – Regional Science Association International. The workshop “Resilient Territories: innovation and creativity for new modes of regional development”, will be held on 29th November at the Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve at Campus de Gambelas (Faro, Portugal). The participation of speakers internationally recognized in the field is confirmed, such as Ron Boschma, University of Utrecht and CIRCLE – Lund University, Philip Cooke, Institute for Sustainable Development at Oxford and the University of Cardiff, Roberta Comunian, King’s College London, and Mario Davide Parrilli of Orkestra – Basque Institute for Competitiveness. The confirmed speakers include Artur Rosa Pires, University of Aveiro, Pedro Costa, DINAMIA – CET, ISCTE – IUL, and Regina Salvador from Universidade Nova de Lisboa. The workshop aims at a broad participation of the scientific community focused on Regional Studies, and is already open the phase of article submission, deadline will run until November 1st. In parallel with the scientific sessions, a focus group involving the presence of regional stakeholders and experts will be organized, in which problems related to human capital in the economy of the sea will be discussed.

SOURCE: Universidade do Algarve

More: http://www.apdr.pt/evento_19/index.html

Lisbon hosts the celebrations of the European Maritime Day in 2019

Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:58:54 GMT

The European Maritime Day, celebrated annually on May 20, has as main objective to highlight the fundamental role that oceans and seas play in the lives of coastal communities and all citizens of the European Union, as well as in the field of sustainable growth and employment in Europe.

This annual celebration was officially launched on May 20, 2008, in Strasbourg, where the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, President of the European Council, Janez Janša and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso signed a tripartite joint declaration, establishing it.

The Council of the European Union announced the cities that will host future celebrations of the European Maritime Day, an event that was held this year in Valletta (Malta) and next year will take place in Bremen (Germany). The following cities will host the event Piraeus (Greece) in 2015, Turku (Finland) in 2016, Poole (UK) in 2017, Burgas (Bulgaria) in 2018, and finally a proposal by the Government of Portugal, through the Ministry of Agriculture and the Sea, Lisbon has been chosen to host the European Maritime Day, in 2019.
The celebration in Lisbon reinforces the strategic importance of this resource for Portugal, while deciding factor for the momentum of the Portuguese economy and deepen the commitment to encourage better management of coastal zones, seas and oceans by all citizens and stakeholders concerned. The 20th of May is a day with special symbolic importance for Portugal, as it represents the day when Vasco da Gama reached India.

SOURCE: ec.europa.eu/maritimeaffairs/maritimeday | Docapesca
MORE INFORMATION: www.poramoralisboa.com

European Cooperation Day 2013 – Be part of it!

Thu, 03 Oct 2013 11:00:00 GMT

On 21 September 2013 and the surrounding days, you can join your “neighbour” in celebrating the achievements of more than 20 years of territorial cooperation in Europe in your region.

Personally supported by EU commissioner Johannes Hahn and by European Parliament member Marie-Thérèse Sanchez-Schmid, European Cooperation Day invites you again this year to get out and meet your neighbours, joining in the fun with them at one of the events that will be showcasing both results achieved and ongoing projects, bringing you and your European neighbours even closer.

For more information: http://www.ecday.eu/

Conference on Enabling Ireland’s Maritime Economic Development

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 11:00:00 GMT

The Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster (IMERC) hosted a very stimulating and successful conference on Enabling Ireland’s Maritime Economic Development on October 7th 2013, at the National Maritime College of Ireland, in Cork.
The aim of this year’s conference was to learn from international and national case studies of best practice by focusing on real-world stories and highlighting practical issues around maritime economic development, as well as to stocktake the current state of play and national capacity to deliver maritime growth.
The theme of the conference was Disruptive Innovation, which is innovation that disrupts, improves and replaces an existing product, process, approach or idea – over time and in unexpected ways. It is increasingly considered that new ways of support for organisations approaching social and economic problems in order to create scalable, sustainable solutions is far more effective than investment in organisations that are fixated on current solutions, delivery methods and recipients. The Keynote Speaker for the conference was Chris Roche, UKI Regional Director for Greenplum, the Big Data Division of EMC – internationally renowned as a thought leader in innovation, who offered his insights into disruptive technologies in the context of maritime opportunities.
For conference notes and presentations, go to www.imerc.ie.
For further information on disruptive technologies, visit www.christenseninstitute.org
The conference also included presentation of the inaugural IMERC Innovator of the Year Award – to reward innovation in the national maritime and energy sphere – which went to a start-up company called SeaFi Marine Data Communication Ltd, for development of cutting-edge digital radio technology, providing high-speed data networks in the marine environment.

For more information, go to www.seafi.eu.

Irish Government announced a landmark investment in scientific research

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 11:00:00 GMT

This €200 million of funding will be invested in seven world-class research centres of scale, one of which will focus on world-leading research to take advantage of Ireland’s natural advantages in marine energies, and will be delivered through Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) Research Centres Programme, coupled with over €100 million in cash and in-kind contributions from industry partners – making it the largest-ever combined state/industry co-funding announcement of its kind in the research field in Ireland.

The seven research centres mark a new collaborative approach and bring together multidisciplinary teams comprising 800 scientists from across Ireland’s leading higher education and research institutions and interacting with 156 industry partners.

The Centre for Marine Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI), led by University College Cork, will develop the science and technology required by industry to generate energy from wave, tidal and floating wind devices. MaREI will carry out research on all aspects required for the success of the marine renewable energy sector while, also, educating and training the next generation of engineers and scientists for the marine renewable energy industry. In particular, MaREI will look at a wide range of challenges concerned with the optimised deployment of marine renewable energy devices, the connection of such devices to the national grid, methods for storing the energy generated, and related marine governance, planning, economics and environmental issues. MaREI will help satisfy national energy demands, as well as for export, and ensure that the expected thousands of jobs created in this sector benefit the national economy.

Renewable electricity pace ‘needs to quicken’, Audit Scotland say

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 11:00:00 GMT

The rate that green power projects are coming online needs to double to meet renewable targets, auditors have said. Ministers want Scotland to generate an equivalent of 100% of electricity demand from renewable energy by 2020. Audit Scotland said meeting targets would be challenging but the Scottish government does have a clear strategy.
The government said it was on course to meet interim targets but acknowledged economic conditions had seen projects progress more slowly than anticipated. Public sector spending on renewables in the past 10 years totals £209m. An industry body said this was matched by £1.5bn investment in 2012 alone.
The Audit Scotland report looked at public sector investment and what has been delivered to date.
“The Scottish government needs to better report what has been achieved so far” Caroline Gardner Auditor General
On top of the 2020 electricity target, there is an 11% target for renewable heat demand and 10% for renewable transport. This combines to create an overall target to meet 30% of the country’s total energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020.

Steady progress

In 2012, the renewable share of electricity demand stood at 39.2%, heat at 4.1% and transport at 3.2%. Figures for the overall 30% energy consumption target are not currently reported.
On electricity, the report added: “We estimate that to meet the renewable electricity target alone, average annual increases in installed capacity need to double.”
Other findings in the report included:

• Scotland is making steady progress towards meeting its renewable energy targets for 2020, but achieving them will be challenging.
• Renewable energy projects are progressing more slowly than expected, due to the economy and changes in UK energy policy.
• The government expects renewable energy to deliver up to £30bn investment and 40,000 jobs. It needs to improve its recording of private sector investment and work with other public bodies to develop more realistic employment projections.

Auditor General for Scotland Caroline Gardner said: “Scotland’s strategy for renewable energy is a good example of clear leadership and direction supported by integration across other policy areas.

“We agree with much of the report, particularly around the need for greater focus to be given to renewable heat”
“While there are aspects the Scottish government and other public bodies should improve, the main challenge is that private sector investment has been slower than expected, reflecting the state of the economy and the uncertainty of developments in the wider UK energy sector.
“The Scottish government needs to better report what has been achieved so far and, along with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, identify what extra steps they can take to accelerate progress.” Niall Stuart Scottish Renewables
The report concludes that the Scottish government should:

• Clarify the role of renewable heat within its wider vision for Scotland’s future energy mix.
• Agree a methodology to monitor its target for overall energy demand and start reporting progress against it by the end of 2014.
• Identify additional steps to accelerate the development of infrastructure to support the offshore wind industry.

Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said investment was helping transform the renewable energy industry and that Wednesday’s draft budget contained a further £200m for key schemes for 2014/15 and 2015/16.

Mr Ewing added: “However, we recognise, as the report does, that renewable energy projects are progressing more slowly than anticipated owing to factors such as the current economic climate and changes in UK energy policy.
“With the uncertainty surrounding UK energy policy we are responding to these market conditions by re-profiling our renewables budget, including our flagship Renewable Energy Investment Fund, so that the sector can be confident of continuing support into the future.”
Niall Stuart, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said: “The report highlights the clear and strong energy policy from the Scottish government, which has given the industry confidence to invest and build in Scotland, with output of renewable power doubling in the last five years as a result.”
He added: “We agree with much of the report, particularly around the need for greater focus to be given to renewable heat.
“In Scotland, heat constitutes more than 50% of energy demand and we believe there is a strong case for renewable heat to play a much bigger role in helping tackle fuel poverty.”
Glasgow Caledonian University will be running a workshop on the implications of funding and investment trends in offshore wind and wave renewable energy industry in 2014. The workshop will feature key industry players and a selection of stakeholders brought together to foster debate and discussion around the implications of current funding and investment arrangements for the industry.

BBC News online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-24047166