On 8–9 October, the SEA2SEE consortium gathered for the 7th consortium meeting in Vigo, Spain. Hosted by ANFACO-CECOPESCA, the meeting marked a clear shift towards setting the stage for the final months of the project, with an emphasis on next steps, demonstration activities, and exploitation of the SEA2SEE results.
This meeting stood out from previous ones for having less reporting and more time devoted to steering efforts towards the final phase, tackling delays with concrete recovery actions, and focusing on completing demonstrations and pending deliverables. Particular emphasis was placed on planning the remaining period to ensure all activities are aligned and actionable, with clear takeaways on the status and development of each work package.
During the meeting, key project takeaways were outlined, notably progress on the second MOOC edition (updated with pilot feedback) as part of co-design and consumer engagement, alongside strategies to promote engagement and behaviour-change interventions with stakeholders. On the technical side, partners showcased validated component status and integration progress for the SEA2SEE traceability technologies, converging on a more stable feature set for public demonstration. Partners shared updates on the demo activities also across the octopus fishery, aquaculture pilots, and tuna-importer use cases, with strategies for the coming months now agreed. The consortium aims to coordinate targeted workshops and a showcase platform to present the integrated technology to stakeholders at the end of the project.
Particular emphasis was placed on exploitation, replication, and scalability as the project advances towards its final steps. Life-cycle analysis activities progressed, with pending contaminant and nutritional analyses scheduled for completion and integration with traceability data. The consortium also refined market pathways and opportunities for industry uptake. Discussions on exploitation encompassed the project’s Key Exploitable Results, updates to the business plan, ownership and protection strategies among partners, and the replication and scalability roadmap for post-project continuity – ensuring impact beyond the project’s lifespan. Lastly, partners aligned on exploitation pathways while strengthening communication and outreach in the run-up to the last consortium meeting and the final event.
With eight months remaining, partners agreed on concrete actions to complete the planned activities. SEA2SEE now moves into demonstration mode with real-world showcases, an emphasis on results exploitation to drive uptake as we move from prototypes to practice, and sustained outreach to maximise adoption and extend impact beyond the project’s lifetime.