Green Regional Innovation Systems for a Blue Economy – the Example of Seagrass and Seaweed

Abstract

With the rising need for renewable resources and ways to mitigate climate change, the oceans got into focus in recent years. Through the concept of a blue economy this demand is supposed to be directed towards a sustainable manner. However, marine resources are mostly extracted and used in their primary form, e.g. harvested seaweed for food, which tends to result in overexploitation of its ecosystem. A new innovative thinking is needed. This way, additional value could be created from these ecosystems and the coastal regions could profit economically from it. Yet, it needs to be secured, that these oceans biological resources are safeguarded – not just exploited – and when so far mostly unused ones are tapped, their use should be shaped in a sustainable way from the start. In our paper we argue, that these needed innovations can be fostered through a regional innovation system centered around eco-innovations. We therefore propose the idea of green regional innovation systems, which can contribute not only to a sustainable regional economic development, but in general to a sustainable blue economy. We demonstrate our argument through the example of an emerging seagrass and seaweed sector in northern Germany.