A strategic advisory board (SAB) is established to create a strong industrial driving force for the activities within SUMES and future projects.
The SAB consists of 10 companies or governmental institutions, covering different Blue economy sectors and Blue Cluster domains as indicated below (Figure below):
- Colruyt Group (food and non-food distribution)
- DEME (dredging and marine construction and services for offshore industry)
- IMDC (international engineering and consultancy company)
- Vlaamse Visveiling (seafood sales, logistics and processing)
- Arcadis (design, engineering and consultancy services for a sustainable environment)
- EBO (IT infrastructure in offshore energy)
- Maritech (expert in environmentally friendly cleaning of offshore structures)
- Haven Zeebrugge (logistics platform for maritime transport)
- FPS Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment (policy unit responsible for the management and protection of the Belgian part of the North Sea)
- POM West-Flanders (support and stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in West Flanders)
The SAB is involved in the following specific tasks:
- Identification, selection and characterisation of the case studies to build and validate the SUMES model
- Data acquisition regarding the selected case studies for quantification purposes
- Participation to valorisation workshops with the aim to develop new innovation projects
- Providing guidance and feedback on the development of the comprehensive sustainability assessment model (e.g. selection of indicators and/or impact categories relevant for industry members)
The specific feedback of SAB members combined with their market insight allowed the project partners to further steer project execution in such a way that valorisation opportunities and possible synergies for industrial collaborations are pursued.