How to make blue growth operational? A local and regional stakeholders perspective in Greece

Abstract

The so-called blue growth is gaining importance in European policy making since it is expanding its relevance beyond traditional economic sectors to new and rapidly developing ones that present significant potential of innovation. This paper seeks to identify the most important factors that can be driving forces of blue growth, taking the example of Greece that being currently in a post-memorandum era, is obliged, in order to meet its engagements, to accelerate with economic growth in general, by untapping also local and regional blue growth potentials and by using MSP to facilitate the growth of its maritime economy. With the aim to put forward concrete policy proposals to boost and make operational blue growth in Greece in a multi-actor perspective, a field survey was designed and conducted with participating representatives of 24 “development companies” operating at local and regional level, all over the country. The method used was the one of environmental scanning (SWOT analysis, etc.). The survey highlighted the strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities, the risks and the many challenges that outline prospects and practical aspects of blue growth in the Greek regional space. The results and key findings of the primary research are discussed, highlighting the most important areas of strategy for promoting blue growth at a local level by the development companies including balancing he protection of the marine environment (ecosystem-based management) and economic growth, safeguarding maritime jobs, promoting entrepreneurial discovery through the Regional Strategy for Smart Specialisation, enforcement of maritime law, promoting biotechnology research and the creation of maritime clusters. Finally, policy proposals are presented to support blue entrepreneurship, which may be one of the cutting edges of the country’s new development model.