Generating new marine knowledge and also sharing and valorizing it with innovation actors and end users from the business world, that is the task of VLIZ within the Blue Economy. In addition, The Flemish Institute for the Sea was also mandated to represent the Flemish marine research community in formal consultative forums on the Blue Economy.
The VLIZ actively pursues contacts with players in the Blue Economy. This can range from bilateral collaborations and innovation projects to participation in various business-driven network and cluster initiatives. For example, we co-founded De Blauwe Cluster (DBC), the Flemish spearhead cluster for innovation within the Blue Economy. Within this cluster, the VLIZ chairs the scientific advisory board and as such sits on the steering committee and as an observer on the board of directors. Together with DBC, we organize the Blue Economy Science Summit (BESS) that brings marine knowledge institutions in contact with maritime companies.
Today we are working with dozens of industrial partners to strengthen Flanders' marine innovation capacity.