On 22.06.2023 the results of the first funding call of the period 2021 - 2027 in INTERREG Southern Baltic Sea were announced. The European Project Center had applied again with some project ideas in different European consortia. Two of these project ideas were selected for funding:
DigiTechPort2030 - Decarbonisation of Small Ports' Ecosystems for Efficient Environmental and Energy Management towards South Baltic Fit for 55
T.A.B. - Innovation Hubs for Tech, Art and Business
DigiTechPort2030 is the follow-up project to Connect2SmallPorts and again focuses on small and medium-sized ports in the Baltic Sea. Once again, the EPC of Wismar University of Applied Sciences is the coordinator of the network with 8 other partners from the Baltic countries. While Connect2SmallPorts focused on the digitalization of these ports, the focus is now shifting to the decarbonization of port ecosystems, i.e. not only the port as a static entity but in its entirety as an element with a wide variety of connections to the outside world - economic, ecological but also social. Drivers of this project are the current European guidelines such as the European Green Deal or Fit for 55, which force the entire maritime industry to decarbonize current operations and contribute to the reduction of emissions.
The T.A.B project focuses on the challenges that especially smaller regions have to face to become competitive and attractive in today's global market. The project intends to increase competence, knowledge transfer and cooperation with companies through interdisciplinary networking of the fields of tech, art and business. In particular, the approaches, competences and skills of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are to be used for the development of new value creation paradigms in various sectors.