The Green and Blue Innovation Agenda
Resources for Catalysts and Entrepreneurs on the Frontlines of
Sustainable Innovation and Market Solutions that Address
Air, Land, and Water Environmental Challenges
2023 Report: Blue Economy Trends, Opportunities, and Recommendations
On March 22, 2023, ISD and SACC-USA released a report analyzing the value, growth, and opportunities of more than fifteen maritime industries. With the frequency, magnitude, and costs of water-based and man-made disasters increasing, this report emphasizes the need for blue innovation in climate change discourse and provides cross-sector and cross-industry recommendations for putting water-based research and development at the top of the agenda for climate technology and innovation.
Report made possible through the generous contributions of the U.S. Embassy in Sweden, Hummeltorp Sverige AB, and other supporters of ISD and SACC-USA.
Available for free download:
Full Report
Executive Summary
Top News Stories
Featured Changemakers
Entrepreneur Resources
Verizon Climate Resilience Prize
The Verizon Climate Resilience Prize will award four companies a total of $500,000 to recognize and propel climate resilience solutions. The Prize empowers early stage companies with funding, ongoing support and networks to scale their solution for climate-resilience. Learn more and apply here.
Blue Industries
Green Industries
Background
The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things and expect different results.
Yet when it comes to many environmental and social challenges, the status quo persists.
This is why the Institute for Sustainable Development is committed to promoting innovative market-based solutions to build up the blue and green economies.
Radical recycling, geoengineering, applied robotics, biomimetics, new tools for exploration, new chemistry solutions to fighting back against drought, acidification, and greenhouse gas emissions... The possibilities are endless. A systemic approach is needed to structure and enable new markets to develop, create innovation and entrepreneurial pipelines, and promote outside of the box thinking.
Currently, Sweden is the leading green economy in the world and the U.S. is the largest. It makes sense to create dialogues, networks, and relationships to raise awareness and understanding of
what is possible.
For these reasons, the Institute for Sustainable Development is proud to announce two initiatives to advance these objectives in partnership with the Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce (SACC-USA) and Swedish soil replenishment and
recycling leader Hummeltorp Sverige A.B., and the U.S. Embassy in Sweden.
The Green Innovation Market Initiative
What would a Green Silicon Valley look like? What needs to be done to liberate creators and entrepreneurs to turn ideas into action? What needs to be done at the city, regional, country, and international levels from a public policy and operational perspective? The Green Innovation Market Initiative is focused on answering these questions.
The Blue Innovation Market Initiative
Plastic islands, degrading coral reefs, depleting fisheries... Viewed from one perspective, the oceans are under severe threat. Viewed from another lens, the opportunities have never been greater. Advanced technologies and new discoveries are creating exciting opportunities to reset how humans coexist with the seas. Robotics and AI can power new ways to conduct deep sea exploration and marine discovery. Entrepreneurs are exploring everything from seaweed farms to carbon capture, from better desalination techniques to coral reef regeneration. This initiative will shine a spotlight on entrepreneurs, provide important tools and research, and create showcase opportunities to bring entrepreneurs and investors together.
Blue Innovation Market Initiative Events are endorsed by the United Nations Decade
Gallery
As a member of the Global Green Innovation Collaborative, ISD hosted the Collaborative's inaugural Business-Academia Working Conference, "Building the Green Innovation Pipeline," in June 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. Photos courtesy of Wings PR.
ISD and SACC-USA released their blue economy report, "Building the Blue Innovation Pipeline: Lessons Learned from the United States and Sweden," at a press conference in Stockholm on March 22, 2023. Photos courtesy of Hampus Knutsson.
ISD and SACC-USA hosted "The Power and Promise of the Blue Economy" in November 2022, where Kind Designs won the inaugural Hummeltorp Evolution Award for their 3D-printed seawall technology. Photos courtesy of SACC-USA.
Stephen Jordan, ISD CEO, and Christer Otterström, Hummeltorp Sverige A.B. CEO, engage in a fireside chat about recycling at the June 2022 SACC-USA Executive Forum,
"Navigating Turbulent Waters." Photos courtesy of SACC-USA.
