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This regional round table workshop focused on Blue Economy and Blue Biotechnologies
for the Adriatic and Ionian macro region, bringing together participants from
Albania, Greece, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia and Spain, along with representatives
from research institutions, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,
private companies and NGOs.

This is the first of a series of workshops ACEPSD is organising at national level. The workshop aims to raise awareness on the Blue Economy and Blue Biotechnologies, while presenting the latest developments and results of the 2B-Blue Project.

This hybrid event will bring together Albanian stakeholders attending in person, while project partners will join online.

During the event, the following topics will be addressed:

• Presentation of Albanian Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development and its experience in national and international projects;
• Overview of the 2B-Blue Project, including objectives, activities, and main achievements;
• Presentation of the Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) concept and its implementation in the Bay of Vlora;
• Introduction of a questionnaire-based survey to be completed by workshop participants as part of the awareness campaign.

The event provided an effective platform for knowledge exchange among academic institutions, researchers, students, and project partners, strengthening collaboration toward the development of a sustainable Blue Economy in Albania.

The involvement of students was highlighted as a key outcome, with the recognition that they can act as junior ambassadors to further disseminate knowledge and promote Blue Biotechnology initiatives across the country.

Discussions during the workshop emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation with governmental institutions and national stakeholders to support
the scaling-up of IMTA technology in Albania. In this regard, the planned future T-Lab event in collaboration with the Albanian Development Fund is expected to serve as an important opportunity to address regulatory, technical, and institutional aspects related to the wider adoption of IMTA systems.
Furthermore, the potential collaboration with relevant units of the Academy of Sciences of Albania working on water resources was identified as a valuable step toward addressing water pollution issues and evaluating their potential impacts on human health. The distribution of project analyses and recommendations in both Albanian and English contributed to strengthening stakeholders’ understanding of the strategic framework required for advancing Blue Biotechnology and the Blue Economy in Albania.

The introduction of the evaluation questionnaire, developed by ACEPSD in cooperation with the University of Murcia and the National Institute of Biology Slovenia supported the collection of feedback and helped identify participants’ interest in future engagement with IMTA-related initiatives.

• Overall, the workshop fostered strong interest among participants and reinforced the importance of continued collaboration between research institutions, universities, and international partners. The positive feedback received from representatives such as Amelia Canovas from the University of Murcia and Professor Elisabetta Bonerba from the University of Bari highlighted the relevance of the initiative and the potential for future cooperation.
• In conclusion, the workshop demonstrated the growing commitment of national and international stakeholders to support innovation, policy development, and capacity building in Blue Biotechnology and sustainable aquaculture, laying a solid foundation for future activities and long-term collaboration in Albania and across the Mediterranean region.
  

This video was produced during the preparations for the Awareness Campaign “From Sea to Solution: Building the Mediterranean Blue Future”. It was produced by Iris Event & Marketing based on the provided matherials by Albanian Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (ACEPSD). This video was presented to the pubblic on 30 March 2026 at the Academy of Sciences of Albania building, in Tirana, Albania.

This video was produced after the preparations for the Awareness Campaign “From Sea to Solution: Building the Mediterranean Blue Future”. It was produced by Iris Event & Marketing based on the provided matherials by Albanian Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (ACEPSD). This is the Albanian version of the video presented to the pubblic on 30 March 2026 at the Academy of Sciences of Albania building, in Tirana, Albania.