Aquaponics and Circular Economy on islands. Islandap Advanced Project

Aquaponics and Circular Economy on islands. Islandap Advanced Project

Aquaponics and Circular Economy on islands. Islandap Advanced Project

“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.

Main differentiating and remarkable aspects of the project
1) A consortium of researchers has been created that stands out for its multidisciplinary nature and that understands that without this collaborative effort it is impossible to advance in Circular Economy in island regions.
2) The circular economy and sustainability are approached from very different spheres and levels.
3) The project is positioning itself as an example of CE in our regions.
4) We invest a lot of effort in dissemination and outreach about CE, the positive impact in the regions, and the need for collaborative work and citizen participation as active agents of change.
5) To make the CE "tangible" and clearer, we have selected a sustainable example of production, around which we position other products/by-products and work areas.

The project, its implementation and results are useful in its regions of action for the following main reasons:
- Improvement of R + D + i capacities in areas of strategic development of the ORs, such as environmental sustainability, sustainable primary production, aquaculture, food security, the use of ICTs and alternative energies.
- Aquaponic systems serve as a link between all experimental areas and all regions and contribute to the creation of multidisciplinary work networks.
- Other priority areas associated with sustainable development are addressed, such as the revaluation of products and by-products from the primary sector and the food industry, transport logistics, needs for collection centers and economic valuations of complete production cycles.
- Research-company approach and creation of joint working groups to give added value to by-products that otherwise end up in landfills or without spill control.
- The specialized training of scientific-technical personnel in all the above areas and in a coordinated manner between regions.
- The use of prototypes for the promotion and dissemination of the Circular Economy, sustainability, sustainable management of biological resources, energy and water, environmental education and the generation of local food in a sustainable and safe way.
- The internationalization of R + D + i in strategic areas of the ORs.

Contributions to the Circular Economy
- Creation of the Circular Economy Network in Islands (RECIS)
- Specialization workshops
- I Forum Circular Economy and Opportunities for Bio-economic Development in islands (held in Gran Canaria).
- Workshop on Circular Economy (held in Cape Verde).
- Outreach Activities.
- Promotion and dissemination activities.
- National and international conferences.
- A member of the ISLANDAP team, Carmen Florido from the Economics area selected as Leader of the Advanced Leadership Foundation (ALF) Circular Economy.
- Creation of Islandap Junior, active promoters of dissemination of the circular economy and aquaponics in their own schools. Islandap forms small groups and then gives them the necessary material to use in their school activities.
- Collaboration in remote rural areas. In the north of Santiago Island, Cape Verde, Islandap collaborates with the Area of Institutional Cooperation and Collaboration of the Excmo Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria for the promotion of the values of the project and its applications in some 70 unemployed women of the municipality of Tarrafal whose main They obtain their livelihood from the extraction of sand from the beaches, with an impact not only on their own health but also on the municipality's biodiversity and tourism development expectations. It has been possible to install an aquaponic system that serves as a union and training in sustainability, in addition to using local by-products to develop valuable products for tourists.
- Pilot experiences to implement the circular economy in tourist areas using coffee grounds as a first example to be developed.
- Pilot experiences for the enhancement of Aloe vera and Bagasse by-products from wine production in the 3 Regions, in addition to a more specific product per Region: Acacia pod (Cape Verde), IV Range production carrot skins (Madeira ), date (Canary Islands).

Reasons why we consider that this project should be worthy of the award:

We are carrying out relevant work in the local Circular Economy in 3 Archipelagos, through multidisciplinary research and different specific local actions carried out from the different areas of the project.

The basis of sustainability and circular economy is found in education, which is why the project has a great commitment to dissemination and awareness-raising actions about the importance of the circular economy in the classroom, through Islandap Junior.

The project does not forget the most disadvantaged and is collaborating in development cooperation on the island of Santiago, Cape Verde, through the implementation of aquaponic systems, to raise awareness of environmental sustainability and circular economy, and create associations and employment with the revaluation of by-products (bucio shells, recycled plastics and acacia pods).

It would represent an important boost for all the members and institutions of the Consortium already created, encouraging us to continue on this path for the local and global good.

https://islandapadvanced.ulpgc.es/