13 members: 4 clusters, 3 CF experts, 2 academia & 4 regions
The BLUECROWDFUNDING project aims to disseminate information and know-how on crowdfunding – peoples’ fundraising – applied to the Blue Economy sector in order to make it more accessible to operators in the sector and facilitate the provision of economic resources for “blue” growth. Specifically, the Marche Region, in the course of 2021, will have the task of launching a crowdfunding campaign to support one or more civic initiatives in the Fishing and Aquaculture sector, using a suitable platform to be chosen in a transparent manner and through the preparation of a specific announcement.
BLUE CROWDFUNDING is a project co-funded in the framework of the European Territorial Cooperation Programme “Interreg Mediterranean 2014-2020”, priority 1 “Promoting Mediterranean innovation capacities to develop smart and sustainable growth” for a period of 32 months (November 2019-June 2022).
In order to increase innovation in the Blue Economy sector in the Mediterranean area, the project aims at disseminating information and knowledge on crowdfunding in order to make it more accessible to the different stakeholders of the Blue Economy and to increase the use of alternative sources of financing.
The partnership is composed of 13 members: four clusters, three crowdfunding experts, two universities and four institutions, from nine European countries (Albania, Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia).
The Marche Region, through the PF Fish Economy, is one of the 13 project partners and coordinates the capitalisation activities with the aim of integrating the practice of crowdfunding within the regional public financing policies. This will allow, on the one hand, to create a reference network of bodies and institutions competent to provide ad hoc services and information on crowdfunding and alternative financing, in particular aimed at Blue Economy enterprises, and on the other hand to have an overview of the “civic” crowdfunding experiences present in the territories concerned for the benefit of public subjects to be able to replicate and disseminate.
In the Marche region, the project envisages the implementation of a pilot bottom-up funding campaign on projects related to issues of civic awareness on Fishing and Aquaculture, carried out through an online platform for fundraising ( https://www.produzionidalbasso.com) starting from September 2021 for the benefit of the “Circular Sea” project – selected through a public call for expressions of interest – proposed by the Garbage Group in collaboration with CNR IRBIM of Ancona and the Marche Polytechnic University.
“Circular Sea” aims to clean up and reclaim the seas in those areas and coastal strips that have particular environmental features or that are close to urban centres in the Marche region that are of great interest to tourists, in order to remove pollutants, especially plastic, and thus promote marine health and protect the fish and food chain.
