BLUE INNOVATION HUB TENERIFE

UGI's innovative and cost-effective solutions focus on three main areas: a Biotech Toolbox (R&D), Sea Gardens, and the Underwater Gardens Blue Innovation Hub. The Biotech Toolbox (R&D) is responsible for developing project-specific protocols and using Smart Enhanced Reefs (SER®) to promote the aggregation and sheltering of marine life, mixing the blue and digital worlds as part of the “twin transition”. Sea Gardens are integrative projects aimed at restoring marine habitats and encompass an active underwater gardening program, an ocean monitoring and observation program, and a participatory citizen science. The Underwater Gardens Blue Innovation Hub is a coastal space dedicated to promoting regeneration and awareness, integrating a nearby Sea Garden underwater, featuring a scientific laboratory (Biolab), a center for ocean monitoring and observation, and activities focused on marine and land regeneration.

A Blue Innovation Hub (UGPT) with a capacity for 3,000 visitors will be developed in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain), a prominent tourist destination with exceptional benign climatic conditions and almost no seasonality. The Canary Islands are part of the European Union, providing economic and political stability. The Hub aims to attract visitors through a holistic range of activities, leading to marine and land regeneration, and inner personal transformation.

The Hub allows to popularize the science behind the environmental regeneration while promoting a participatory and inclusive model suited for all. Visitors can be “sea gardeners” and take action in other meaningful ways, while they support financial resilience for marine sustainability through the entrance fee.
The Tenerife Island Parliament (Cabildo) voted this project as a "Project of Insular Interest" in February 2022. It is the first time that a privately driven project has received this recognition. The project is considered of insular interest because of its "structuring, strategic, and urgent" nature.

In addition to this important milestone, the European Commission has granted a Horizon Europe grant of €11.2 million to fund part of the Sea Garden project within the Ocean Citizen initiative. This project comprises a consortium of 23 partners from 8 different countries, coordinated by Prof. Sergio Rossi (Associate Professor at University of Salento & Scientific Director of UGI) in accordance with the vision and guidance of UGI.
Our scientific initiative, spearheaded by Prof. Sergio Rossi and the OCEAN CITIZEN consortium, is in the process of developing a sustainable protocol for coastal restoration and conservation, adaptable to five distinct ecozones (located in Norway, Denmark, Israel, and Spain). This protocol envisions expanding and connecting marine protected areas, establishing ecological corridors, restoring biodiversity, and enhancing blue carbon, with an ambition to devise a self-sustaining economic model.

The objectives encompass understanding the ecosystem services provided by marine forests (MFs) and their reactions to anthropogenic impacts, designing and implementing restoration technologies, and identifying unique characteristics of different coastal ecozones. Further objectives include setting up a comprehensive multi-stakeholder monitoring program, evaluating the impact of our business model, and assessing the socio-economic repercussions of ecosystem services.