Oceans@Duke hosted its third annual Blue Economy Symposium, “Blueprint for Coastal Resilience,” on Friday to discuss the blue economy landscape, which aims to harness marine resources for economic growth while protecting the environment.
The symposium took place at the Fuqua School of Business and brought together investors, entrepreneurs, consultants and project developers working on cutting-edge technology in the blue economy.
“When we think about climate change [solutions]“We are terrestrially biased,” said Daniel Kleinman, founder and CEO of Seaworthy Collective. “…Ultimately, we live on a blue planet, with 71% of our planet made up of oceans. But more importantly, the ocean is the largest carbon sink and heat sink on our planet, and yet we don’t focus enough on harnessing it.”
The one-day symposium included blue economy experts, two panels, four “Tide Talks” presentations, a keynote address and an interactive lunchtime presentation.
In his keynote, Kleinman discussed the prominent role of blue economy startups in developing and scaling climate solutions that sustainably prioritize the ocean.
Panel discussion on the expansion of green coastal infrastructure
The panel included Matthew Campbell, president of Natrx Adaptive Infrastructure, Margaret Boshek, senior coastal engineer at Moffatt & Nichol, and Devon McKaye, senior resilience planner at Arcadis. It was moderated by Sara Oliver, Executive in Residence in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Panelists discussed the process of scaling coastal infrastructure, from tendering to permitting and implementation. They called for the use of green coastal infrastructure as an alternative to traditional “gray” concrete coastal defense infrastructure to regenerate the marine environment.
“Once you build a dam, you've dynamically changed that environment, and you can't just tear the dam out and the sediment will come back. That’s not how it works,” Boshek said. “Fortunately, our government has taken the approach that living coastlines, green infrastructure and softer solutions are beneficial.”
Boshek and the other panelists emphasized that green coastal infrastructure is environmentally and economically beneficial and will become increasingly important as coastal dynamics change in response to climate change.
Tide Talks
Following his keynote address, Campbell spoke at the first of four “Tide Talks.” Campbell explained that technology plays a critical role in developing infrastructure that balances providing coastal and ecological resilience.
In a second Tide talk, Mark Huang, co-founder of SeaAhead, a blue technology startup accelerator and early-stage venture capital firm, spoke about the disruptive potential of ocean-based technology innovation. Huang highlighted how the blue technology ecosystem extends across traditionally defined subsectors and creates opportunities for interdisciplinary founders in marine entrepreneurship.
In the Tide talk that followed, Shelby Thomas, CEO of the nonprofit Ocean Rescue Alliance International, detailed ORAI's work developing artificial reefs that mimic natural geology to restore marine biodiversity and improve coastal protection.
After lunch, Dorreen Wong, deputy director of ecopreneurship and investment at the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, moderated the final Tide Conversation. The organization empowers young people and mobilizes the global movement to restore ocean health by providing grants and supporting a global ecopreneur network.
Panel discussion on the business case for marine ecosystem services
Joining Huang and Thomas in the panel discussion were Alex Johnson, chief strategy officer of Virridy, and Chris Osburn, professor of ocean, earth and atmospheric sciences and director of the Blue Economy Innovation program at North Carolina State University.
Panelists discussed ways to capitalize on the growing demand for marine ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and coastal protection.
“Whether your demand comes from large government agencies or the private sector to adapt or contain, the demand will be there,” Johnson said. “People [will be] Money will be spent on the environment over the next three, four, eight decades, so it’s more about figuring out how to build a business around it.”
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