The second REFEST consortium meeting was recently held in Valencia (November 19-20th), hosted by our partners CALSENS and AIMPLAS.
The two-day meeting was a great opportunity to review the first six months of the project’s progress, discussing the initial activities done and defining the next steps for its implementation.
During the working sessions, each partner presented its achievements so far, providing detailed updates on technical works, successes and difficulties encountered.
The first day focused on retrofit requirements of selected fishing vessels, expected impact assessment on marine environment and biodiversity, initial simulations, design of batteries, sensors’ integration, and technological solutions.
The second day was mainly focused on environmental, economic, and social assessments, dissemination, communication, and exploitation activities, agreements on synergies with other European initiatives and funded projects and technical decisions.
The meeting was also fundamental to foster invaluable knowledge exchange and collaboration between consortium members especially on potential risks and issues to be addressed in the later phases of the project, allowing them to plan together the most effective solutions.
Both days ended with a visit to the CALSENS and AIMPLAS research facilities and laboratories. This role of these partners is crucial for the development of the REFEST project, being involved in the construction of the composites and sensors to be installed on fishing vessels, with the fishing sector.
The REFEST consortium is working hard in making significant progress in its objective of improving the sustainability and efficiency of fishing vessels, and the Valencia meeting was an important opportunity for collaboration to further strengthen teamwork between all partners involved.
The project, funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe program (grant agreement n° 1011157663 – topic HORIZON-MISS-2023-OCEAN-01-05), will have a duration of 3 years. Learn more about the project.
