On 16 September 2026, Rovigo hosted BLUE THREADS, the joint final event of SYMCRAFT, ECCENTRIC and RECONNECT: a morning of shared results, live AI tool demonstrations and cross-project dialogue on building a more circular blue economy.

A Joint Stage for Three Circular Economy Journeys

The consortia of RECONNECT, SYMCRAFT and ECCENTRIC gathered this week in Rovigo, Italy, on 16 September 2026, for a joint final event bringing together partners, institutional representatives and stakeholders from across Europe.

Hosted by the t2i Business Incubator – Technology Transfer and Innovation at the Q200 Cen.Ser. Centro Servizi, the morning session opened with institutional greetings from the t2i team, Joint Secretariat representatives and regional authorities, setting the tone for a day of exchange between projects that share a common ambition: turning waste and untapped resources into new circular value chains.

RECONNECT was presented by Sandra Garcia Torres (Bic Malaga) under the title “Connecting Fisheries, Aquaculture and Creative Industries for a Circular Blue Economy”, alongside SYMCRAFT’s “From Industrial Waste to Creative Opportunities” and ECCENTRIC’s “Accelerating Innovation and Investment in the Blue Economy” — three complementary perspectives on building a more resilient blue economy in Europe.

Find out more about the joint event and the latest project updates on the official RECONNECT page:
https://reconnect.interreg-euro-med.eu/news/

Three AI Tools, One Shared Purpose

The morning agenda featured a live, back-to-back demonstration of the AI-based tools developed by RECONNECT, SYMCRAFT and ECCENTRIC, presented by the t2i team. Each tool grew out of a different sector, yet all three share the same approach: using artificial intelligence to connect actors that would otherwise never meet — from fisheries and aquaculture to craft workshops and industrial waste streams.

The session gave partners and guests a rare side-by-side view of how digital matchmaking can support symbiosis and pilot actions across very different value chains, opening the door to future synergies between the three initiatives.

From Waste to Value: Lessons from the Field

The second part of the morning turned to results and lessons learned. Marco Meggiolaro (Tecnica Group) shared the RE-BOAT experience developed within SYMCRAFT, showing how recycled ski-boot fibre can feed industrial symbiosis and new blue-economy applications — a concrete example of how craft and industry can turn waste into opportunity.

A cross-project discussion followed, moderated by Roberto Sandrini (t2i) with Madeleine Block (iafg), Nicola Zilio (IMAST) and Anastasia Sakkoula (Kinno), comparing pilot actions and results across the three projects through an interactive Q&A with the audience via Slido.

BLUE THREADS closed with conclusions from Marco Galanti (t2i), who highlighted the value of bringing SYMCRAFT, ECCENTRIC and RECONNECT together under one roof. For RECONNECT, the momentum continued into the “Tides of Innovation” Study Visit on 17 September and the project’s own Technical and Steering Committee meeting, keeping the consortium’s work on the circular blue economy in the Mediterranean moving forward.

“Hosting SYMCRAFT, ECCENTRIC and RECONNECT allowed to share best practices and lesson learned between more than 30 business support organisations and research centres, operating in different European areas, to discuss about crafts, blue economy, industrial symbosis. It was a way to showcase the importance of a wider perspective, in order to offer a portfolio of services and not a pilot action: this is key to ensure companies can receive concrete support to innovate, based on their real needs.”

Marco Galanti – Research and Innovation Area Manager
t2i – Trasferimento Tecnologico e Innovazione