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“R + D + i TOWARDS AQUAPONIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE UP ISLANDS AND THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY. INTERREGIONAL FORWARD CHALLENGES-ISLANDAP ADVANCED” is a project belonging to the INTERREG V-A MAC 2014-2020 Program (International Cooperation Operational Program) and financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Its global strategic objective is to obtain significant and tangible progress in transnational cooperation with the objective of favoring the cohesive, sustainable and balanced territorial development of the Atlantic Area and its maritime heritage.
The transition to the Circular Economy (CE) is even more complex in island environments, where resources are less accessible and waste proportionally much higher, given that most of the GDP comes from the tourism sector. The Atlantic archipelagos of Macaronesia have millions of visitors a year, an enormous biodiversity to protect both terrestrial and marine, an increasingly less populated field, and in all of them we have the scarcity of water and the enormous waste generation as urgent problems to solve.
Promoting the sustainable use of water, the generation of food in an integrated way and promoting synergies in inter- and intra-regional research that promote the local CE are the basis for the development of this project.
The project has been designed in 3 consecutive phases:
1st) BIO PHASE - Experimental developments in aquaponic production of fish and vegetables in fresh and salt water; Pilot-scale processing tests of 5 previously selected by-products; Formulation and testing of additives and mixtures for sustainable diets of local production; Innovation in integrated production of worms and polychaetes in intermediate systems; Spread and controlled cultivation of alternative plants; Microalgae biomass and biotechnology.
2º) Improvements in the efficiency and competitiveness of aquaponic systems through automatisms, ICTs and water and energy saving according to geographical areas.
3rd) Promotion of the CE NETWORK created in a previous phase and development of operational dynamics and statistics applied to waste management and applicability in the tourism sector.
It promotes three specific objectives:
1) Coordinated research in Aquaculture, Hydroponics and Microalgae to generate innovation in value-added products and processes;
2) Coordinated research in Engineering, Aquaculture, Hydroponics and Microalgae to generate innovation in value-added products and processes in fresh and salt water systems;
3) Research and development in CE for innovation in sustainable development and bio-products adapted to the Ors (Cape Verde, Madeira and Canary Islands). Coordinated research in Economics, Engineering, Aquaculture, Hydroponics and Microalgae oriented to operational dynamics of work in NETWORK and marketing.
