Funded by the European Commission''s Horizon 2020 programme, the Columbus Knowledge Transfer Flagship Project has delivered solutions to increase the future impact of marine and maritime research.
The three year comprehensive study into the barriers, challenges and solutions to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of EC funded marine and maritime research, presented its findings at a final conference in Brussels. Columbus focused on developing robust structures and methodologies to facilitate carrying out large-scale Knowledge Transfer across the marine and maritime sectors of Europe to simultaneously stimulate Blue Growth.
A major objective of Columbus was to show the effectiveness of the Columbus Knowledge Transfer Methodology; 48 case stories have been compiled which are available to the public to demonstrate the process. The stories illustrate how the Columbus Knowledge Transfer Methodology was implemented and how corresponding impacts were achieved by different Columbus Competence Nodes.
The case studies cover sectors including aquaculture, fisheries, marine biological resources, marine environment, marine governance and management, marine monitoring and observation, marine physical resources and marine transport and logistics.
One of the case studies was the deepwind project, coordinated by DTU-Wind Energy in Denmark, focused on designing a new vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) concept specifically for offshore application. This new concept has the potential for better cost efficiency than already exists in offshore technology
Columbus is very much at the forefront of the European Commission Blue Growth agenda. The project's ambition has been to help increase the competitiveness of European companies by unlocking the potential of the oceans to create future jobs and economic growth in Europe.
By Jake Frith
