SEAlgaePower at Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP) Week 2026: Connecting Innovation, Policy and Impact in the Blue Economy

From 10–12 February 2026, SEAlgaePower took part in SBEP Week 2026 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Bucharest, Romania. The event brought together projects funded under the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership (SBEP) for a week of exchange, visibility and strategic discussion.

At the heart of the week was the 2nd SBEP Symposium: “Full Sail Ahead Towards the Sustainable Blue Economy”, held on 11 February 2026

The Symposium served as a central moment for the Partnership, placing projects, collaboration across sea basins, and pathways to impact firmly in the spotlight.

For SEAlgaePower, SBEP Week was not only an opportunity to present our work, but also to situate it within a broader European effort to align research and innovation across the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Baltic Sea, North Sea and Atlantic.

A Strong European Framework for Blue Innovation

The Symposium opened with high-level contributions from European and national representatives, underlining the strategic importance of coordinated blue economy research

Sessions throughout the day addressed policy uncertainty, geopolitical context, market uptake challenges, and long-term global impact.

Panels such as “From Research to Ripple Effect: Early Results from our Projects” and “The Market Uptake Challenge: Engaging Industry and Finance” reinforced a key message: research excellence must be matched with implementation pathways, industrial engagement and policy alignment.

The concluding roundtable and wrap-up session emphasised the importance of sustained collaboration across projects and countries: a theme that directly resonates with SEAlgaePower’s approach to building circular value chains.

SEAlgaePower’s Contribution: Coordinated Vision and Practical Innovation

SEAlgaePower was represented by its Coordinator, Prof. Cornelia Spetea Wiklund (University of Gothenburg), who presented the project during the Kick-Off meeting of the co-funded projects under the 2024 Joint Call.

Cornelia outlined SEAlgaePower’s central mission: to develop innovative microalgae-based biotechnologies that recover and valorise nutrients from aquaculture and seafood process waters, transforming these side streams into high-value microalgal biomass.

Her presentation highlighted:

• The integrated seven work package structure connecting research, pilot-scale cultivation, biorefinery development, sustainability assessment and impact

• Ongoing screening of eleven microalgae strains from the North and Mediterranean Seas

• Characterisation of seafood brines and salmon aquaculture water

• Early achievements including completion of the Consortium Agreement, Project Management Plan and Data Management Plan

“Our goal is to turn nutrient-rich side streams into valuable resources. Engaging with other SBEP projects helps us see where our work connects with wider sustainability efforts across Europe.”

— Prof. Cornelia Spetea Wiklund, Coordinator, SEAlgaePower

Importantly, the presentation also addressed foreseen challenges, including variability in water composition, microbial contamination risks, regulatory considerations and achieving high nutrient removal efficiencies.

By openly discussing both progress and complexity, SEAlgaePower demonstrated the practical realism required to translate innovation into impact.

Our project poster further illustrated the full value chain approach, from microalgae selection and pilot cultivation to biorefinery processes and application development in food, feed, health and MedTech sectors

Watch our poster presentation here

Thematic Portfolio 2: Building Collaboration Beyond Individual Projects

On 12 February 2026, SEAlgaePower, also represented by Communication and Dissemination Lead - Lesley Tobin, participated in the Kick-Off of the SBEP Thematic Portfolios. Within Portfolio 2: Sustainability in marine algae cultivations, 11 projects came together to identify common ground, discuss expected deliverables, define governance structures and explore communication and dissemination approaches.

Watch Cornelia's presentation of SEAlgaePower here 

The agenda explicitly addressed:

• Identification of common scope

• Implementation planning

• Communication and dissemination approaches

• Portfolio webpage development

• Preliminary KPIs and success indicators

For SEAlgaePower, this was a valuable opportunity to situate our work within a broader algae innovation ecosystem and to explore how shared visibility and aligned messaging could strengthen overall impact.

Participation in the SBEP community supports:

• Knowledge exchange across projects

• Greater visibility at European level

• Coordination of impact pathways

• Collaboration beyond individual project lifetimes

These discussions reinforced the understanding that maximising impact does not mean duplicating effort: it means aligning strategically where it adds value.

Why Participation Matters

Attending SBEP Week 2026 provided clear benefits for SEAlgaePower and other funded projects:

1. Strategic Positioning

The Symposium framed research within broader policy, industrial and global contexts, helping projects understand how their work contributes to Europe’s long-term blue economy ambitions.

2. Peer Learning

Engaging with fellow project coordinators and partners allowed open discussion of challenges, early results and practical implementation realities.

3. Impact Alignment

Thematic Portfolio discussions helped clarify how projects can coordinate communication efforts and explore shared indicators of success

4. Visibility

Through presentations, poster sessions and networking opportunities, projects gained exposure to policymakers, industry representatives and research stakeholders

A Thank You to the Organisers

SEAlgaePower would like to sincerely thank the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership team and national funding organisations for organising a structured, forward-looking and well-coordinated event series

The careful design of the programme - from high-level policy framing to practical implementation discussions - created space not only for visibility, but for meaningful collaboration.

Looking Ahead

As SEAlgaePower progresses with pilot-scale cultivation, biorefinery optimisation and sustainability assessment participation in SBEP Week 2026 has strengthened our position within a European network of projects working towards a circular, low-impact blue bioeconomy.

By connecting aquaculture side streams with microalgae innovation, and by aligning with partners across sea basins and value chains, SEAlgaePower continues to contribute to a broader effort: turning environmental challenges into sustainable growth opportunities.

We look forward to continuing this collaboration within the SBEP community.