INTERREG – Cultivating connections and partnerships in border regions.

The Interreg Italy-Croatia 2021-2027 Programme finances cross-border cooperation projects focusing on innovation in the blue economy, capitalises previous cooperation experiences, and creates stronger sinergies with EUSAIR.

The Italy-Croatia cooperation area shows a distinct blue and green pattern, featuring the sea basin, coastal landscapes, green but also urban areas.

The Programme envisaged 4 key priorities:

• • PO 1 – A more competitive and smarter Europe

Sustainable growth in the blue economy

• • • SO 1.1 Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies
    • SO 1.2 Developing skills for smart specialisation, industrial transition and entrepreneurship
  • PO 2 – A greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe
  • PO 3 – A more connected Europe
  • PO 4 – A more social and inclusive Europe

Blue economy encompasses industries and sectors based directly on the marine environment (e.g. shipping, seafood, energy generation) or on land (e.g. ports, shipyards, coastal infrastructures). Innovation activities and technology advancement address a wide set of aspects related to processes, products and services. As reaffirmed in various recent EU documents, cross-cutting challenges of the vast Blue economy area are energy and green transition and climate impact on sea and coastal activities, as well as the need to maintain high attention on environmental conservation. The European vision for the Blue economy is sustainable, green, resilient and circular, and contributes to the mitigation of climate change consequences, while stressing the importance of investing in research, skills enhancement and innovation.

In order to reach a larger number of SMEs in the Programme area and support them in addressing the current and expected common challenges of the Blue economy, the cornerstone of the OSI for SO 1.1 and SO 1.2 shall be the implementation of an SMEs facility scheme, by following a model that foresees calls for proposals addressed to SMEs and start-ups.

SMEs face significant challenges in accessing public financial resources for participating in R&I activities and increasing collaborative practices. Through schemes such as grants, vouchers, coaching services is expected to fund SMEs projects that promote cross-border cooperation and that foresee the support innovation in Blue economy domains, with specific regards to the ones aimed at increasing sustainability, generating growth in terms of job creation, production of value, with the adoption of an environmentally sustainable approach.

A map of the Programme area