“Enhancing ethics and economics in aquaculture” A new MARINA workshop on 25 March in Brussels
On the 25th of March a new MARINA workshop, organised by Italian CNR and Koys lab will be held in Brussels. It is meant to foster a collaborative debate focusing on methods and technologies for the governance of the aquaculture through a responsible approach to the research, innovation and use of digital technologies for automation.
Aquaculture is the world’s fastest growing food industry and it has the responsibility to face the growing global population feeding. Indeed, as the world’s population continues to expand rapidly, developing innovative and sustainable food sources is a key priority for Europe. This consideration identifies a key-issue in the marine sector with a direct and huge social impact.
What about the overall economy, would the use of more expensive systems increase food prices and change the level of access to food? How to deal with the production of food for fishes? How to ensure digital security? Which processes could be used to decrease the harmful chemicals in the water, such nitrates, maybe reducing them to non-toxic levels so to be reused for other purposes? Does it make sense to match other kinds of agro-food productions, such as the emerging aquaponic, listed among the 10 most promising and disruptive technologies?
This is a challenge and the planned cross-sectoral workshops will drive a path towards the exploitation of methodologies and policies helping the players and policy makers to remove barriers limiting the adoption of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) – a new approach that considers vital aligning the processes and outcomes of research and innovation with the needs and expectations of society, by leveraging on public engagement, gender equality, science education, open access and open science, ethics and governance.
Guidelines of mutual research between the marine and the Industry 4.0 sectors will be outlined.