Journal of Marine Science and Technology - Call for Special Issue Proposals on the Blue Growth
Blue growth is a long-term strategy to support the sustainable development of the blue economy. In Europe the strategy is focused on the growth of five emerging sectors (marine renewable energies, blue biotechnologies, coastal tourism, seabed mining and aquaculture) but, at the same time, continues to support traditional sectors (shipbuilding, maritime transport, oil&gas, fisheries etc.). The strategy identifies also three necessary components to facilitate the sustainable growth of the marine and maritime economy: i) increase the marine knowledge, ii) ensure that all activities at sea can be performed with an adequate level of security through an integrated maritime surveillance and iii) develop a Maritime Spatial Planning for a better governance of the activities at sea.
Similar initiatives have been proposed for many other basins around the world in accordance with national and regional strategies for reducing the impact on the marine environment but at the same time making appropriate use of its resources. Just to give few examples, IORA-Indian Ocean RIM Association indicated among its priorities and focus areas Blue Economy, Australia has its own well-established Blue Economy strategy, China actively support the growth of the Blue Economy at global level.
There is no univocal definition of Blue Economy:
According to the World Bank (this opens in a new tab), the blue economy is the "sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystem"
The Commonwealth of Nations (this opens in a new tab) defines the Blue Economy as "an emerging concept which encourages better management of our ocean or 'blue' resources"
Conservation International (this opens in a new tab) stated that "blue economy also includes economic benefits that may not be marketed, such as carbon storage, coastal protection, cultural values and biodiversity."
United Nations (this opens in a new tab) in 2019 defined the Blue Economy as an economy that "comprises a range of economic sectors and related policies that together determine whether the use of ocean resources is sustainable. An important challenge of the blue economy is to understand and better manage the many aspects of oceanic sustainability, ranging from sustainable fisheries to ecosystem health to preventing pollution. Secondly, the blue economy challenges us to realize that the sustainable management of ocean resources will require collaboration across borders and sectors through a variety of partnerships, and on a scale that has not been previously achieved……"
New technologies or innovative applications of consolidated tool of analysis are being developed to increase the knowledge about the marine environment and to support the sustainable exploitation of marine resources. The development of many of these technologies implies a multidisciplinary collaboration between different fields of knowledge: biology, engineering, economics, etc.
Journal of Marine Science and Technology (JMST) invites to submit special issue proposals on technologies for the Blue Economy. The followings are topics that can be of interest for this special issue. Review papers of this topics are also welcomed.
- Energy production from renewable sources (wind, waves, tides, currents, biomasses etc.)
- Marine robotics for monitoring, observation, maintenance etc., bioinspired propulsion for AUV
- Maritime surveillance (traffic management, oil spill identification, illegal fisheries etc.)
- Greening vessels, facilities and services: application of new material technologies, optimization of waste management on board, low carbon technologies (alternative fuels, green power generation, hull shape optimization, hull coatings for skin friction drag reduction, lightweight materials, on-board efficient energy management, high performance propulsion), underwater radiated noise.
- Technologies for pollution mitigation and remediation
- Technologies for fisheries and aquaculture
- ICT technologies: application of BIG data analytics to blue growth activities
- Green technologies for observation, preservation and exploitation of natural and cultural heritage