Alice Guittard, WP6 Co-leader of BRIDGE-BS from our partner Athens University of Economics and Business, took part in the ISPIM Connects Cape Town Conference “Transforming Futures Through Innovation”, held on 17–19 March in South Africa.

During the conference, Guittard presented how the BRIDGE-BS Living Labs and the Black Sea Accelerator programme, jointly facilitated by BRIDGE-BS and DOORS, are driving research uptake and fostering innovation across the Black Sea region.

The full paper, “Mainstreaming Blue Innovations for Sustainable Transformation” was co-authored by Alice Guittard, Ebun Akinsete, and BRIDGE-BS WP6 Leader Phoebe Koundouri. Focusing on the Blue Economy sector in the Black Sea, the paper explores how Living Labs can support the mainstreaming of innovation and offers insights into how accelerator programmes can serve as extensions of Living Lab activities, empowering start-ups to deliver impactful Blue Economy solutions.