Outcomes of the Virtual Conference
“Cooperation and financing of the innovative and eco-friendly products in maritime sector”
A virtual conference was organized for small and medium enterprises, innovators, business support institutions and research organizations in the scope of Interreg ADRION project ECO-NautiNET discussing the hot topics in the present period, concerning innovative solutions and finance needed for the new market products of SMEs in the ADRION region.
The dates of the conference were 23rd and 24th of June 2020 and it was organized on the platform created during the ECO-NautiNET project (http://econautinet.fsb.hr/). In the conference, audio-visual material was prepared and presented in three main sessions:
- Research topics and opportunities for collaboration with the research institutions
- Marketing of the innovative products and ideas presented by enterprises present at the ECO-NautiNET platform
- Economy in crisis: Measures and possibilities for finance in the period after the epidemic crisisMore than 50 participants were able to discuss and view all materials uploaded to the platform, including short video presentations, materials on innovative products, projects implemented in the ADRION region and wider Mediterranean area, live events with representatives of local, regional and EU government bodies, to discuss the opportunities in economy and research.Within the frame of the Virtual Conference the Project Officer of Joint Secretariat of INTERREG ADRION Programme Mrs. Adela Franja, made a live presentation entitled “ADRION programme past experience, lessons learnt, a reflection into the future” and all participants were informed about the future of ADRION Programme and had the possibility to have a constructive dialogue with valuable results.
- The Virtual Conference started with an opening session in which Dr. Giotopoulos, Project Manager of Chamber of Achaia, presented the main objectives of ECO-NautiNET project and the key objectives of the Virtual Conference.
- The Conference was organized utilizing a hybrid format integrating live presentations and discussions blended with short video presentations on several issues.
Furthermore, all participants were informed by Prof. Nikitakos Coordinator for Thematic Cluster 1: Blue Growth and related Smart Growth of the ADRION Programme about all ADRION Projects of Thematic Priority 1 “Innovative and smart region” and communicated the joint capitalization activities of ADRION Projects.
The second session of the Virtual Conference entitled “Presentations of the collaboration ideas from researchers in the ECO-NautiNET network” was moderated by Mr. Antun Pfeifer from University of Zagreb and several live and video presentations were realized by researchers from universities and SMEs from all partner countries.
All researchers presented interesting several cases fields of possible future collaboration and research mainly in the field of eco-innovation. All interesting presentations and videos are accessible through the ECO-NautiNET platform.
Afterwards the third and last session of the first day entitled “Presentations of the innovative products by SMEs in the ECO-NautiNET network” gave the opportunity to several SMEs from the ADRION area to present their innovative products and services in the nautical sector. Participants were able to exchange information about several issues and identify common challenges and opportunities for collaborations.
The second day started with a session entitled “Economy in crisis: Measures and possibilities for finance in the period after the epidemic crisis” in which Mr. Marko Jurčić – Advisor to the President of Croatian Chamber of Economy and Mrs. Elena Jan Papadopoulou – Managing Director of El Yachting (Greece) presented key challenges, issues confronted by SMEs in this crisis period due to COVID-19 pandemic.
SMEs and participants were informed about national and EU initiatives which are being planned and will offer financial and operational support to SMEs hit by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
The Conference ended with a Networking session of ADRION project partners and discussion on the future themes for collaboration and project applications, which was moderated by Prof. Nikitakos Coordinator for Thematic Cluster 1: Blue Growth and related Smart Growth of the ADRION Programme. The specific session gave the opportunity to ADRION project partners and SMEs to identify common challenges and issues, which can be the founding base for future collaborations.
All conference presentations and results are accessible through the ECO-NautiNET platform:
Participation on the conference
Overall, 66 participants representing 41 institution from 5 countries have participated in the conference, as show in Figure 1.
Participation was recorded through obligatory creation of the user profile on the platform in order to reach the contents of the conference and also through the monitoring of activities (sign in , site visit) of already registered members of the ECO-NautiNET network.
The Organising Committee of the Virtual Conference
Chamber of Achaia
Regional Development Centre Koper
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture
Croatian Chamber of Economy, Pula County Chamber
C.N.A. National Confederation of Handcrafts and of Smes – Association of Province of Ravenna
City of Dubrovnik Development Agency
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tirana
ECO-NautiNET project is supported by:
ADRION Programme INTERREG V-B 2014-2020 – First call for proposals – funded under the European Regional Development Fund and IPA II fund