MED-Hubs is a flagship project funded by the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) and coordinated by the Technical University of Cartagena, aiming to strengthen blue economy innovation and smart specialisation in the Mediterranean by connecting the region’s start-ups, innovation actors and coastal communities. On 27 July 2026, Venice Lagoon Plastic Free convened the first of four planned meetings of the project’s Observatory Panel, established to bring a broader strategic and expert perspective into the project. The Panel’s role goes beyond receiving updates. It examines progress critically, identifies gaps and risks, and provides practical recommendations to improve implementation, the relevance of the testbeds, and the potential replication of the MED-Hubs approach elsewhere in the Mediterranean. As the first in the series, the meeting also served to formally introduce the Panel members to one another and to the project team, putting faces to names, and to establish a shared understanding of the Panel’s role going forward.
The online session opened with remarks from the chair, D. Poletto of Venice Lagoon Plastic Free, followed by introductions from the Panel members: Stephanie Vella of the WestMed National Hub, Carla De Carolis, co-founder of Biochica, Esther Lokhorst of RanMarine, Matthew Walsh, with roles spanning the European Commission and the United Nations, Miguel Hernandez of GALP Mallorca, and Giorgio Betetto of Gees Recycling. Their combined expertise covers aquaculture, marine biomass valorisation, autonomous monitoring technology, ocean pollution policy, local blue economy development and recycling, giving the project a broad lens through which to assess its work. The meeting followed the main stages of the MED-Hubs innovation pathway, moving from the acceleration programme through to the testbeds and, finally, to the allocation of start-ups across them.
Malta Accelerate presented an update on MED-Hubs’ acceleration programme, reporting 105 startup and 115 mentor applications, from which 15 startups have now been selected for focused support. Mentoring will continue through to May and June 2027, ahead of a demo day and closing conference in Naples, with a further pilot planned in Malta in August.
The two MED-Hubs testbeds also shared their progress. The Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena presented the Marine Energy Hub, a platform for testing small-scale marine renewable energy devices that has now been deployed in Cartagena and is targeting a leap from TRL4 to TRL5–7. Just One Earth introduced Alpha, an automated logbook system for small-scale fisheries that uses computer vision to support catch classification, with field tests set to begin around Ischia in September. Fabrica Italiana dell’Innovazione outlined its work engaging municipalities, research institutes and fishing communities around the Ischia testbed, including a stakeholder workshop held earlier this year.
Panel members welcomed the progress made across all three strands and raised the importance of planning for the long-term sustainability of the testbeds beyond the project’s end, as well as strengthening the economic case for continued investment in ocean innovation amid shifting European funding priorities. A second Observatory Panel meeting is expected before the end of the year to review progress on the demonstrators and startup allocation.
