The Workshop on EU-funded Marine Robotics and Applications (EMRA) 2023 was hosted and co-organised by the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (UNIZG-FER) together with IN2 and DIH AgriFood Croatia on the 20th and 21st of June in Šibenik, Croatia. The event followed the success of previous EMRA workshops (CNR-Rome 2014, IST-Lisbon 2015, NCL-Newcastle 2016, VICOROB-Girona 2017, UL-Limerick 2018, IFREMER-Toulon 2019, Univ. Pisa-online 2021 and NOC-Southampton 2022) and brought together over 90 leading experts, researchers, and professionals in the field of marine robotics and applications. The single-track conference programme over two days featured 25 speakers with ample time for discussions and networking. Presentations from ongoing EU funded research projects were mixed with presentations from industry and policy makers.
The workshop was organised within the framework of two significant projects coordinated by UNIZG-FER, namely the Interreg ADRION MARBLE – Joint Master on Maritime Robotics in Blue Economy and the Horizon Europe ERA Chair UWIN-LABUST projects, as well as Horizon Europe MONUSEN – Montenegrin Centre for Underwater Sensor Networks and SeaTecHub and Interreg Italy-Croatia InnovaMare, which UNIZG-FER was a partner in.
Assistant Professor Fausto Ferreira assumed the role of General Chair at EMRA 2023. Additionally, Professor Nikola Mišković, Head of the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies (LABUST) at UNIZG-FER, presented the MARBLE and UWIN-LABUST projects, shedding light on their objectives, achievements, and future prospects.
EMRA 2023 featured two pivotal roundtable discussions, addressing pressing challenges and EU-centred opportunities in the field of marine robotics and blue economy. The first roundtable, titled “Discussion on Widening Projects – Roundtable on WIDERA Projects Challenges” was moderated by Adeline Kroll from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Development (DG R&D).
The second roundtable, titled “Challenges and Opportunities in Sustainable Blue Economy Growth” brought together participants including Adeline Kroll (DG R&D), Mislav Kovač (Croatian Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds) and Mateo Ante Bosnić (Ministry of Science and Education) and was moderated by Carlo Kraskovic from the Maritime cluster mareFVG.
The EMRA 2023 workshop was organized within the framework of the Croatian presidency of the EU Strategy for Adriatic and Ionian. More information about the workshop and the program can be found at https://emra-2023.marinerobotics.eu/
EMRA was also presented in other media:
https://razvoj.gov.hr/vijesti/u-okviru-hrvatskog-predsjedanja-strategijom-eu-za-jadransku-i-jonsku-regiju-odrzana-medjunarodna-konferencija-emra-eu-funded-marine-robotics-and-applications/5347
https://www.sibensko-kninska-zupanija.hr/arhiva-novosti/na-tvr-avi-sv-ivana-odrzana-me-unarodna-konferencija-o-podvodnoj-robotici-emra-2023-!/3576.html.