The Regional Agency for the Development of Research Technology and Innovation (ARDITI)

ARDITI is a non-profit organisation which supports research and innovation, promotes scientific and technological training, and contributes to the modernisation and development of the Madeira Autonomous Region (RAM).  ARDITI hosts The Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre (MARE), a multi-regional marine research and development centre with seven research units across Portugal mainland and Madeira Island. MARE was classified as an Excellent R&D Unit by the Portuguese National Science Foundation (FCT).  ARDITI contributed to establishing the regional strategy for developing and promoting marine resources and technologies, which materialised in the shape of the Oceanic Observatory of Madeira (OOM). OOM acts as a technological platform that provides high-resolution and high-quality scientific data from Madeira's EEZ for the public and private sectors, the scientific community, and society.

MARE and OOM benefit from specialised human resources from various fields of expertise (e.g. aquaculture, oceanography, marine mammal ecology, marine litter, remote sensing), different facilities, like offices and laboratories, and several state-of-the-art equipment.

These research units are aligned with the strategic objectives in the theme of the sea, both at regional (Regional Smart Specialization Strategy for the Autonomous Region of Madeira), national (National Strategy for the Sea 2021-2030) and European (Marine Strategy Framework Directive) levels, and with the principles expressed in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, mainly, the goal 2- End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture; 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts; 14 – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development and 17 - Partnerships for the goals).

ARDITI cooperates with several entities and belongs to several consortiums concerning aquaculture and fisheries, like S2AQUA -Sustainable and Smart Aquaculture, whose mission is to raise aquaculture to a new level, play an interface role between academia, research, and industry. Also, ARDITI has contributed to improving knowledge and public perception of marine sciences and raising awareness of current ocean problems. This contribution has been achieved through different activities, like lectures, science fairs, and didactic games.

Concerning the large ARDITI (MARE Madeira and OOM) expertise acquired during the last decade in Madeira about subjects related to fisheries, aquaculture, marine biodiversity and ocean literacy, its contribution to the AQUAFISH 0.0 project will be mainly for the work package “WP3 – Social acceptance of sustainable aquaculture and fisheries products”. ARDITI will develop and implement activities for schools, show cooking, master classes, an app and awareness activities for a general audience.

Sites:
https://www.arditi.pt/pt/
https://mare-madeira.pt/