The Port of Barcelona promotes its blue economy technology district

The blue economy, understood as that economy that has the capacity to provide a sustainable response to the basic needs of society and that involves the different economic sectors related to the marine environment, including ports, not only allows us environmentally friendly growth, but also represents a necessary engine for responsible and inclusive growth. According to data from the Spanish Global Compact Network, this type of economy contributes 5% of global GDP and, at the state level, generates some 23,000 million euros of gross added value and more than 691,000 jobs.

Given this reality, the Port of Barcelona, as a public institution and economic engine of the country, has given a priority role to the development of the blue economy in its IV Strategic Plan 2021-2025. In this document, which outlines future strategic lines, the blue economy technological district is projected, which has Pier 01 as its embryo, a reference innovative hub located in the port area and made up of more than 100 companies and startups.

The Pier 01 innovation hub is located in Port Vell, a unique space of 70 hectares that is the most urban area of the Port of Barcelona. Port Vell concentrates intense commercial, maritime and port activity, acting as a pole of attraction for investments and talent, a historical and unique territory where initiatives related to the new economy based on knowledge and technology progress.

The blue economy, understood as that which has the capacity to provide a sustainable response to the basic needs of society and and that involves the different economic sectors related to the marine environment

In Port Vell we can find a wide range of facilities and services for people, as well as facilities and services related to the nautical and maritime world, such as fishing, mooring, repair and maintenance of leisure boats, historic sports clubs, restaurants and hotels and activities that take place throughout the year and are visited by millions of people, such as the Boat Show or the Christmas Fair.

The commitment of the Port de Barcelona to develop initiatives related to the blue economy in this area will not only favor job creation in the port sector, but will also accelerate the recovery of employment to pre-COVID-19 crisis levels in this area; it will promote the development of quality sectoral training with the creation of an integrated logistics-port training center within the framework of the knowledge, innovation, and training hub, and it will facilitate research and innovation in all logistics-port activity, generating a leading innovative ecosystem by attracting talent.

United we are stronger

The foundations for the development of the blue economy in the Port de Barcelona have already begun to be established. In this regard, the Port has been the first institution to sign an agreement with the Barcelona City Council to join forces in this strategy. The agreement aims, among other things, to create a space for sharing projects, promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, talent, and training, as well as seeking projects that, through public-private collaboration, can boost the blue economy and position the city internationally.

The agreement aims, among other things, to create a space for sharing projects, promoting innovation, entrepreneurship, talent, and training, as well as seeking projects

The Port de Barcelona works to become one unique platform where startups, technology companies, academia, and the maritime-port sector can develop new economic activityin the field of the blue economy. The Blue District, where this activity will be concentrated, will become a business hub that operates under criteria of sustainability, openness, collaboration, and technology, and that is capable of attracting talent, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

These projects will facilitate the creation of new quality jobs within a sector that currently employs about 15,000 people and generates 3,750 million euros in annual turnover in the city of Barcelona, representing 4.3% of its GDP and 1.4% of employment.

A shared path

The Port and the city of Barcelona have evolved together over the centuries. Barcelona would not have been able to be an industrial, commercial, and open city if it had not had a first-class port that would have facilitated the arrival of raw materials and, at the same time, capable of delivering its production worldwide. In the same way, the Port of Barcelona would not be a modern and leading infrastructure today if it had not had behind it this entrepreneurial city, which continues to work to become a modern and competitive metropolis, with global projection.

The Port and the city of Barcelona have evolved together over the centuries

Today, the Port of Barcelona is the strategic infrastructure necessary for the country to function, a very powerful economic machinery in transformation and that, among other aspects, requires increasingly prepared and specialized professionals.The blue economy is a great generator of job opportunities. But also of sustainable economic growth, both from an environmental and social and economic point of view, the three axes that mark the development of the Port of Barcelona today, a port firmly committed to the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of the United Nations.