Energy, food and nature are all competing for space on the North Sea. How do we find the ideal balance between all  stakeholders involved? The North Sea is one the one hand already  an important source of energy and food, and on the other hand also our largest nature reserve. At the same time, we are getting increasingly more dependent on it by the day.

We are asking a lot from the North Sea and new plans to gain more from it are stacking up. That is why the Community of Practice North Sea (CoP North Sea), TKI Wind op Zee, and MARIN join forces to show a glimpse of a successful future of our dear North Sea. The challenge at hand: how can all the stakeholders together make the North Sea a balanced powerhouse?

9.00 hr

Registration & reception

9.30 hr

Opening & Welcome

Sophie van Hoytema, day presenter

Floor Spaargaren, Blue Life seminar chairwoman

9.40 hr

Plenary session

  Bob Meijer, director, TKI Wind Op Zee

  Heleen Vollers, Stichting De Noordzee (North Sea Foundation)

  Nico Buytendijk, program manager CoP Noordzee

  Julius Smith, Ørsted

  Floor Spaargaren, MARIN

10.25 hr

10.45 hr

Short break

Session 1

Our current economic models are based on the principle of economic growth. Within this line of thinking, we want to keep growing our activity at the North Sea and use up more space. However, the North Sea is not infinite, which makes us wonder if there is an alternative, more sustainable business model to explore. We look at what really matters for a sustainable future and how we can use it wisely, whilst at the same time still prosper.
• Antonios Emmanouil Consultant & researcher Harbour, Coastal & Offshore       

  Deltares - ROAD2SID consortium
• Bram Büscher – Professor and Chair of the Sociology of Development and Change group at Wageningen  University
• Nathalie Scheidegger Project Leader CoP Noordzee

Wind turbines deliver us the essential renewable energy we need for our society.
But they come at a cost. Migrating birds and bats find the turbines on their routes and fall victim to the rotating turbine blades. The WOZEP-project aims to quickly learn about the movement of birds and bats and how we can accommodate both their natural migration and our need for renewables from sea.
• David Molenaar CEO Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy BV
• Abel Gyimesi bird ecologist at Bureau Waardenburg bv

12.00 hr

13.00 hr

Lunch

Session 2

Can you eat it? Can you make clothes out of it? Can you make money with/ from it? Seeing as the answer is ‘yes’ to each question, you might start to think that seaweed is the new gold. What can you actually do with seaweed? How big will the demand be, and how can we make that demand grow? And why should we invest in seaweed? We ask the new experts on this natural resource why it’s smart to move from bitcoins to seaweed in the new blue economy.
• Marjanne Cuypers Founder at BlueBlocks
• Joost Wouters Founder & SeaEO The Seaweed Company
• Anne Boermans CEO & co-founder Zeefier
• Marin van Regteren Environmental Specialist at Eneco

For the construction and maintenance of wind farms, an array of vessels are needed. With the offshore wind sector reaching maturity, the demand for more sustainable ships is growing. And the industry is responding to it. This is one other step needed towards emission-free wind farms.
• Christian Veldhuis Teamleader Ships MARIN
• Jorrit-Jan Serraris MARIN Magpie EU project

The installation of wind turbines can be a disruptive process for the natural environment in which they are build, such as vibrations when drilling a monopile into the ground. GBM Works is one of the companies working on a solution to mitigate this disruption. Additionally, they are part of the consortium of SIMOX, a project that is researching alternatives to conventional hammering. But what are the consequences of these ‘new sounds’ and how can this project help policy in setting new norms and ways of measuring sound.
• Marcello Werneck Business Development Manager - Offshore Wind GBM Works
• Ahmed Elkadi Head of department - Energy and Underground Infrastructure at  Deltares and project member SIMOX project
• Julius Smith Head of Business Development Benelux Ørsted

14.45 hr

15.00 hr

Break

Session 3

There are different types of industrial areas at sea such as hydrogen, wind, and food farms. Looking at the activities above and under the water surface, is there a way to combine multiple activities at one location. At the moment, multiple pilots are being rolled out and can hopefully give us valuable insight into large-scale applications.
• Marjolein Kemna Projectleader CoP North Sea
• Zinzi Reimert Manager Offshore Test Site North Sea Farmers

Wind and solar energy can complement each other, for they derive their energy from different weather elements. Some pilots are already in place near- and offshore, but is floating solar something we can fortify within our catalogue of renewable energy at sea? Looking at large-scale floating solar, some questions arise: how large can build solar panel fields on the water, how much space do they take up, and what are the effects of shadow for sea life below the panels? And what about other forms of renewable energy such as wave and tidal? What is their place in this ecosystem?
• Benjamin Lehner Project Portfolio Manager at DMEC (Dutch Marine Energy Centre)
• William Otto Senior project manager– MARIN
• Max Houwing Wind Energy Researcher – TNO
• Erwin Meijboom – Board Member EWA: Dutch Energy from Water Association

16.00 hr

Drinks and closure -  End of the 2022 BlueWeek edition