Blue, Green & Orange Economy Exploration & Experimentation

Our challenge is that there is an untapped space for better convening, supporting and growing innovators while enabling the innovation ecosystem and culture in the blue, green and orange economies in the Eastern Caribbean.

History: Although the blue, green and orange economies are not new concepts, the blue economy (BE) term is slightly newer and thus recently emerged, and in some sectors, still emerging with governments still trying to better define their vision for the BE looking at the vast opportunities and areas for regenerative growth and resilience that exist as well as the interlinkages with climate resilience. Causes / drivers: With the BE being seen as one key pathway to achieve sustainable development, a lot of pressure has been placed on Governments in the region to make the transition to a sustainable BE and what many are now referring to as a regenerative BE. However, many governments have been unable to define their vision for the BE, create policies to support this as well as further support MSMEs and innovators in the space. With many remaining knowledge and data gaps, and seemingly, many organizations working on this new blue thing, there has been a high level of duplication of work that has not resulted in implementation and action. Where there has been a level of innovation and support to innovators, much of this has been delivered to men in technology. As such, one key part of further realizing this blue green system and helping the system to reveal itself is in identifying existing solutions, areas for exploration and experimentation that could be further piloted for scale and investment while also uncovering research and data gaps and learning questions to better realize the potential of the BE. In order to be able to better convene and support the blue - green interconnected innovation ecosystem in the region, there is a need to focus on the enabling space and look to elements such as the future of work, innovation culture and brain drain that could contribute to enhanced R & D in the space with a focus on women and men. Additionally, creative and alternative means are needed in order to experiment and explore new pathways in the Blue and Green Economies, hence the additional exploration of the Orange Economy. 

Within the Eastern Caribbean region, our office and Lab is seen as one of the leaders in the creative blue - green innovation space. We have done significant work in this space in the past and believe that our blue economy expertise and experiences are a part of our Lab legacy. As conveners and partnership generators, we have been able to support bridging the gap between innovators and banks for further capital investment as well as providing policy advice to Governments. As we solidfy our office's blue - green and orange offer, we believe that our innovation expertise including the ability to test and pilots experiments adds further value.

Spurring creative #grassrootssolutions to #bluegreeneconomy challenges from community to cabinet. 

What do the blue, green and orange economies as well as innovation systems in the Eastern Caribbean look like? Is there a connection between levels of innovation and further realizing the transition to a regenerative Eastern Caribbean? How can we uncover gaps in data, signals and trends in the blue, green and orange spaces to support an enabling environment for innovation?

Systems thinking: systems thinking and systems mapping, collective intelligence and foresight will be used in stakeholder engagement during the scoping missions and studies.  Solutions mapping and prototyping will be used to identify key solutions and experiments to be further tested. 

Data within the Eastern Caribbean is very limited and where it does exist, it is hard to find or access as it is highly guarded by Governments. One example of an initiative that we will be supporting is on the digital transformation of the fisheries sectors in Barbados and Dominica where we will be helping to make their catch, landings and vessel data more open through an integrated fisheries information system using tools such as Kobo toolbox etc. In addition, another key data gap in the region is the valuation of the Blue Economy. As such, we will be using new sources of data such as scientific research on the value of mangroves and seagrass meadows to capture carbon and determine the value of carbon markets. 

Government (Relevant Ministries of Blue and Green Economy, Nature & Environment, People Empowerment, Climate, Digital and Innovation); Civil society (indigenous and coastal communities); private sector (innovators)