The Center for Innovative Services for Biotechnology Companies (CSIEB) at the Biopolo Sionlla, in Santiago de Compostela, hosted this morning the kick-off meeting that serves to design the strategy of the European project BIOCHAINS Atlantic, a European initiative led by the Life Sciences Business Technology Cluster (Bioga) and which is financed with 1.86 million euros through the Interreg Atlantic Area program and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Today’s meeting at the Biopolo Sionlla brought together the partners of this international consortium and marks the official start of a project aimed at promoting the blue bioeconomy through the optimization of microalgae and macroalgae value chains in the Atlantic region.

BIOCHAINS Atlantic, a strategic project for the Atlantic algae value chain, will work over the next few years to improve and consolidate the production, transformation and use chains of microalgae and macroalgae in Spain, Portugal, France and Ireland. The president of Bioga, Jose Vilariño, points out that this program “will strengthen a key sector for the blue economy and generate new market opportunities.”

Its lines of work include the mapping of agents in the value chain and the analysis of the main regulatory challenges, the development of digital models for the efficient management of resources and processes, the validation of prototypes applicable to sectors such as food, cosmetics or industrial biotechnology and the improvement of the competitiveness of SMEs. the promotion of innovation and the strengthening of transnational cooperation.

Today’s working meeting at Biopolo Sionlla allowed the project partners to coordinate efforts and define the roadmap. Objectives, methodologies and first tasks were also presented and the strategic milestones that will mark the execution of the project were defined. The meeting highlighted the relevance of collaboration and knowledge transfer to consolidate a sector with high social and economic potential in the Atlantic area.