Welcome!
The 15th Annual Laurentic Forum will be hosted both in person and virtually for the convenience of all of our international followers to enjoy! This conference will take place 7th, 8th and 9th November 2023 at ATU Campus, Killybegs, County , Donegal.
This year’s Forum, with the overarching theme of Sustaining Coastal Communities, will be a hybrid conference held over three days. The first day will look at Food & Beverage Tourism and the Creative Economy, the second will focus on the value of the Blue Economy through offshore renewables, aquaculture and seaweed farming and harvesting and the third day on Marine Clusters in a Global Context.
The event will include informative presentations, case studies and panel discussions by our four regional North Atlantic partners:-
• The Canadian Province of Newfoundland & Labrador
• Northwest of Ireland
• Iceland
• North Norway
We have chosen the icon of a lighthouse as a key feature of our logo because of the message it represents around the world: a beacon of hope to coastal communities.
For centuries these guiding lights have withstood the elements in order to ensure safe passage, pointing the way to a secure future. It symbolises the mission of the Laurentic Forum and our hope to do the same.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara will have their Aquaculture Remote Classroom (The ARC) on location for public viewing on November 7th & 8th for more information check out https://bim.ie/a-seafood-way-of-life/the-arc/
This conference is free to attend with compliments of the Laurentic Forum and sponsors.
CONFERENCE AGENDA
Click on dates below for further information
Day 1: Food & Beverage Tourism and the Creative Economy
Day 2: The Value of the Blue Economy through offshore renewables, aquaculture and seaweed farming and harvesting.
Day 3: Marine Clusters in a Global Context
Conference Agenda
Click on dates below for further information
Hybrid Conference Begins
Day(s)
:
Hour(s)
:
Minute(s)
:
Second(s)
Day1- Tourism and the Creative Economy
November 7th
12:00 Registration and Coffee
13.00 Martin Harley, Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council
13.05 Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue
13.10 Dr Orla Flynn, President ATU
THEME 1: FOOD AND BEVERAGE TOURISM
13.15 Brian McDermott, The Donegal food story
13.30 Sonja Mills, Port Rexton Brewery
13.45 Mairead Andersson, Boathouse and Seafood shack
14.00 Maggie Campbell, The Donegal Food Coast
14.15 John Shine, Shines Tuna
14.30 James Doherty, Sliabh Liag
14.45 Catherine White, Craft beverage tourist – Research insights
15.00 Panel discussion
15.15 Break
THEME 2: TOURISM AND THE CREATIVE ECOMOMY
15.30 Traolach O Fionnain- Art’s Officer Donegal County Council, An overview of the creative economy in Donegal
15.45 John Fischer, Tourism and the Creative Economy working together
16.00 Norren Golfman, Overview of the film industry to Rural NL
16.15 Artlink – Martha McCulloch, Art-links and tourism/ development of Biennale such as Inishowen Biennale based NFL successes
16.30 Henrick Sand Dagfinrud, Bodo EU City of Culture 2024
16.45 Gerry Osmond, NL Year of the Arts 2024
17.00 Finish
Day2- The Value of the Blue Economy | Co-existence of Traditional & Emerging Industries | Aquatech and Aquaculture in the Laurentic Region Seaweed Farming | Lessons Learnt & New Market Applications
November 8th
10:30 Registration Tea and Coffee
Theme 1: Co-existence of Traditional & Emerging Industries
Moderator: Brian Fitzgerald, Director of External Affairs and Stakeholder Liaison (Ireland) at Simply Blue Group
11:05 Michael Keatinge, Business Consultant
11:20 Paul Hegarty, Head of College, National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI)
11:35 Edel O’Connor, Business Development Manager at The Irish Maritime Development Office (IMDO)
at Marine Institute
11:50 Q&A
Theme 2: Aquatech and Aquaculture in the Laurentic Region
Moderator: Máirtín Walsh – BIM
12:15 Hatch Program- Damien Toner-Development and Innovation Executive, BIM
12:30 Jónas R. Viðarsson, Director of Division of Value Creation, Matis Institute Iceland
12: 45 Kevin Anderson, Head, School of Fisheries, Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial
University 13:00 Q&A
13:20 pm Lunch
Theme 3: Seaweed Farming: Lessons Learnt & New Market Applications
Moderator: TBC
14.25 Dr Paul Dobbins, Vice President, The World Wildlife Foundation , for Low Trophic Aquaculture,
Advancing Seaweed Farming for Climate and Social Change
14.45 Dr Øystein Arlov, SINTEF ,Biorefinery and applications of Norwegian Brown Algae
15:00 Dr Maren Saether, SEAWEED SOLUTIONS ,Aquaculture and application of brown algae
15:15 Dr Benoit Queigueneur, ALGAIA “ALGAIA – a commercial example of a seaweed success story
15:30 Dr Maria Hayes, Teagasc, Seasolutions project – abatement of methane emissions using seaweed
derived ingredients
15:45 Simply Blue, Maria Gleeson & Gareth Murphy, – Co-existence of aquaculture & marine renewable
energy
16:00 Panel ichéal Ó Cinneide, Nua na Mara
16:30 Close
Day3- Marine Clusters in a Global Context
November 9th
12:30 Registration Tea and Coffee
13:00 Lunch (Served in the ATU, Millennium Building) Theme Marine Clusters in a Global Context
14:00 Moderator- TBC
14:05 Alexandra Leeper, Managing Director of Iceland Ocean Cluster, (International) Head of
Research and Innovation at the Icelandic Ocean Cluster, (Virtual)
14:20 Linn Indrestrand, Head of Fishery and Maritime Services at Port of Hirtshals, Board Member of the Danish Ocean Cluster, (Virtual)
14:35 Kendra McDonald, CEO, Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, (virtual)
14:50 Liam Curran, Senior Technologist at Enterprise Ireland, Marine Ireland Industry Network
(MIIN), Gael Offshore Network
15:05 Karl Bonner, Educational Outreach Manager, Killybegs Marine Cluster
15:20 Q & A
The Laurentic Forum has been made possible by the generous funding, sponsorship, support and In kind contribution from the following organizations and companies:
We thank them all with much appreciation.
