GrantType
Updated Dec 18, 2017CLOSED
The Blue Economy Challenge
Offered by Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as part of innovationXchange and Blue Economy Challenge
The AU$3 million dollar Blue Economy Challenge aims to crowdsource the world to find solutions to three important issues of aquaculture 1) Rethinking feed for aquaculture 2) New ocean products and 3) Sustainable design. The goal of the challenge is to encourage innovations that will revolutionize aquaculture in the developing world. We will focus on the Indian Ocean region, where transformations in aquaculture can help eradicate poverty, end hunger, and preserve ecosystems.
Learn MoreCLOSEDJun 30, 2016Deadline
$250,000 - $750,000Amount
UnavailableDuration(Months)
| Criteria: Stage | Amount Per Prize | |
|---|---|---|
| Stage 3 | Up to $250,000 | |
| Stage 5 | $250,000 - $750,000 |
Mandatory Requirements
| Stage | Stage 3: Proof of Concept | |
| Implemented In: | ||
| Region | N/A | |
| Country | Comoros, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Mozambique, Malaysia, Kenya, India, Seychelles, Indonesia, Thailand, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Madagascar, Myanmar, Pakistan and Yemen | |
| Focus Areas | Aquaculture (Agriculture) Processing & Production (Agriculture) Biodiversity (Environment) Fisheries (Environment) Natural Resources (Environment) |
Rethinking feed for aquaculture:Create highly nutritional aquaculture feed replacements that match or improve on the cost and nutritional performance of existing feedstock while reducing the burden on the natural environment. New feed replacements should eliminate or dramatically minimise their impact on wild fish stocks and other environmental systems and not use agricultural products used for human consumption. Feed replacements should have equal or greater nutritional value per dollar compared to commercially available fishmeal.
New ocean products:Create new ocean products that vastly expand the diversity, sustainability, and quality of aquaculture products to meet growing food security needs while decreasing aquaculture’s environmental footprint. Solutions must explicitly address the environmental sustainability and consumer acceptance of the products.
Sustainable design:Introduce new designs, methodologies, products and other innovations that are financially and environmentally sustainable, scalable, and will dramatically improve the efficiency of aquaculture farms thereby improving productivity, livelihoods, and market value. Solutions must be an entire aquaculture system design and they must decrease the total system loss compared to benchmarked systems (entries must compare system to status quo even if the solution is novel). These designs could support the uptake of the latest aquaculture farm designs, but in a cost-effective and culturally suitable way for subsistence farmers and small to medium sized aquaculture enterprises in developing countries. Such design improvements may also include improvements in access to a market for their produce, including mechanisms, processes or technologies that can improve post-farm gate activities (i.e. finance, distribution and transport) of aquaculture products.
Types of Solutions:We are specifically calling for the following types of outcomes applicable to developing countries of the Indian Ocean. We are looking for solutions that are beyond a theoretical concept. Submissions can be either prototypes, where a novel idea is being tested for the first time, or solutions, where existing ideas are being trialled in a different context. The Blue Economy Challenge will not accept submissions that are lab bench scale, theoretical design, or limited to ideas on paper.
New ocean products:Create new ocean products that vastly expand the diversity, sustainability, and quality of aquaculture products to meet growing food security needs while decreasing aquaculture’s environmental footprint. Solutions must explicitly address the environmental sustainability and consumer acceptance of the products.
Sustainable design:Introduce new designs, methodologies, products and other innovations that are financially and environmentally sustainable, scalable, and will dramatically improve the efficiency of aquaculture farms thereby improving productivity, livelihoods, and market value. Solutions must be an entire aquaculture system design and they must decrease the total system loss compared to benchmarked systems (entries must compare system to status quo even if the solution is novel). These designs could support the uptake of the latest aquaculture farm designs, but in a cost-effective and culturally suitable way for subsistence farmers and small to medium sized aquaculture enterprises in developing countries. Such design improvements may also include improvements in access to a market for their produce, including mechanisms, processes or technologies that can improve post-farm gate activities (i.e. finance, distribution and transport) of aquaculture products.
Types of Solutions:We are specifically calling for the following types of outcomes applicable to developing countries of the Indian Ocean. We are looking for solutions that are beyond a theoretical concept. Submissions can be either prototypes, where a novel idea is being tested for the first time, or solutions, where existing ideas are being trialled in a different context. The Blue Economy Challenge will not accept submissions that are lab bench scale, theoretical design, or limited to ideas on paper.
Other Requirements
| Other | Applicability of the Solution to the Developing World:All solutions must be feasible and suitable for aquaculture in a developing country context with specific applicability to the Indian Ocean. Solutions should take account for the environments and contexts where these solutions will be implemented. This includes local capacity, operating costs, functionality, reliability and maintainability, distribution and supply chain, and scalability issues unique to the pilot context. Finally, all applications should demonstrate how each solution will contribute to improved food security, economic growth and opportunity and nutrition of the relevant pilot region. |
Application Directions
Applications must be in English. Only complete applications will be reviewed.
Visit the website for more information on the challenge. Applications will be accepted online at www.theblueeconomychallenge.org through June 30th, 2016, at 23:59 GMT +11.
Visit the website for more information on the challenge. Applications will be accepted online at www.theblueeconomychallenge.org through June 30th, 2016, at 23:59 GMT +11.
