Free Zone of Cádiz and University of Cádiz join forces again in the second joint edition of a meeting with a greater international dimension that will address the great challenges and opportunities of the Blue Economy from innovation, knowledge, sustainability and entrepreneurship
The oceans as a guarantee of life, technology, Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity, sustainable coastal tourism, aquaculture or the decarbonization of maritime transport will be some of the major topics of the program
The meeting will incorporate a Blue Economy Job Fair and will once again feature the Blue Woman Forum, dedicated to the impact of female leadership in the sector
The State delegate in the Cádiz Free Trade Zone, Fran González, and the rector of the UCA, Casimiro Mantell, influence the “great opportunity” of the forum to attract youth and encourage vocations, exhibit innovation, generate opportunities and strengthen alliances
Blue Zone Forum InnovAzul returns to Cádiz on October 28, 29 and 30 under the motto 'Projecting in blue', with a new edition that will reinforce its international projection and consolidate the city as a meeting point for companies, entrepreneurs, researchers, institutions, students and experts linked to the Blue Economy. The State delegate in the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, Fran González, and the rector of the University of Cádiz, Casimiro Mantell, presented today at the Incubazul facilities the main lines of a meeting that once again unites the efforts of both institutions to promote innovation, knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship and sustainable development linked to the seas and oceans from Cádiz.
'Projecting in blue' summarizes the future vocation of an edition that will focus on the opportunities offered by the Blue Economy to generate economic activity and employment, promote new business projects, promote the transfer of knowledge and open new professional horizons for young talent. It is an initiative that has the involvement of the Cádiz Free Trade Zone Consortium, the University of Cádiz, the Campus of International Excellence of the Sea (CEIMAR) and the European University of the Seas (SEA-EU).
Blue Zone Forum InnovAzul will display an extensive program over its three days that will combine presentations, colloquiums, inspirational talks, workshops, professional meetings, exhibitions, immersive experiences, networking spaces and exhibition areas. The programming will allow us to address some of the main challenges posed by the relationship between economic activity, innovation, knowledge and ocean conservation from different perspectives.
This new edition will have a special international dimension thanks to its coincidence in Cádiz with the XXIX Conference of Free Zones of Ibero-America, which will bring together representatives of free zones, institutions and entities from different countries. This confluence will allow us to expand the international presence in the Blue Zone Forum InnovAzul, generate new connections and project the Blue Economy ecosystem that is being developed from Cádiz to other territories.
The State delegate in the Free Trade Zone of Cádiz, Fran González, has highlighted that Blue Zone Forum InnovAzul “represents the consolidation of a model that we have built by adding capabilities”. González considers that “Cádiz has managed to generate an ecosystem around the Blue Economy in which university, knowledge, innovation, entrepreneurship and business coexist, and now our objective is to give it an increasingly larger scale.”.
The delegate added that “Internationalization is not an end in itself, but a tool to open markets, share knowledge, attract talent and investment and generate new opportunities for companies and entrepreneurs in our territory.”. In this sense, he recalled “the steps taken recently in Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia, which are allowing us to verify that the work developed from Cádiz arouses interest outside our borders”.
For González, this edition represents “the great opportunity to turn Cádiz into an international connection point for a few days and ensure that these relationships have continuity and can be translated into projects, economic activity and employment”.
For the rector of the UCA, who thanked the work of all the people involved in the organization of the event, "this international forum once again places our province at the global epicenter of the Blue Economy. As an academic and scientific institution firmly linked to the sea, our university wants, in collaboration with other institutions and companies in the area, to continue leading international projection in this field through strategic alliances such as the European University of the Seas (SEA-EU) and the International Campus of Excellence of the Sea (CIS·Mar)”. Thus, from this vanguard position, Mantell has defended that the responsibility of the UCA is to “transform scientific knowledge into real solutions, promoting multidisciplinary research that ensures the protection of our oceans and that has a true impact on society.”
A forum with a greater international dimension
For this reason, Casimiro Mantell has stressed that "at the University of Cádiz we conceive the marine ecosystem as an engine of sustainability, where the preservation of our biodiversity and the fight against climate change mark the roadmap of each of our projects. Our commitment goes beyond knowledge of the sea. It also converges on the need to prosper alongside it in a responsible manner." To achieve this, "the University of Cádiz is decisively committed to blue entrepreneurship and the transfer of knowledge as levers to redefine the productive fabric. We want our classrooms and laboratories to be a node of knowledge and innovation for the creation of new technology-based companies, biotechnological projects and marine renewable energies that generate a real economic impact."
The rector believes that “by connecting this entrepreneurial spirit with the demands of emerging sectors, we multiply the employability of our young people, preparing them for the green and blue jobs of the future." And he added that this forum "is the ideal platform to consolidate this triple helix between academia, business and administration, demonstrating that the future of employment, economic development and respect for the planet sail together and have in Cádiz an exceptional starting port and an undeniable future projection."
From the ocean to Artificial Intelligence
The programming will begin on Wednesday the 28th with the institutional inauguration and an opening presentation, which will be followed by an intense simultaneous agenda in different spaces of the Congress Palace of the Cadiz capital. The first day will allow us to get closer to regenerative aquaculture and offshore mariculture, with a look that will go 'from traditional sea farming to ocean farming'; to technology, Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity; and sustainable coastal tourism and marine ecotourism, with special attention to solutions to the impact of tourism in coastal areas.
The day will also incorporate content related to entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems, high-value projects in the new Blue Economy, UCA Blue Talent and Blue Biotech, as well as an Artificial Intelligence Hackathon focused on blue challenges. The program will also add 'From the Ocean to Space: Exploring the Blue Frontiers', with analog astronauts from the University of Cádiz, and Sea Starlight, an immersive experience that will connect sea, history and cosmos.
On Thursday the 29th, it will expand that view with issues such as 'The oceans, our guarantee of life', international projects, training and new professional skills, blue innovation, financing of the European Union and the decarbonization of maritime transport and green ports, which will be addressed under the approach 'Zero emissions on the global highway'. There will also be connection spaces between blue research groups and companies and a forum on ocean research, impact and policies.
A Job Fair to connect talent and companies
One of the most practical developments will be the Blue Economy Job Fair, which will take place on Thursday the 29th in the exhibition area and will allow talent to be directly connected with the needs of companies linked to the blue sectors.
The fair will be aimed at generating employment and internship opportunities and will have networking spaces, interviews and workshops. The program also includes specific initiatives such as 'Design your blue CV' and 'Blue Talent Matching', designed to facilitate contact and meetings between professional profiles and the business community.
The presence of young talent will have special relevance throughout the forum. After the growing interest shown in previous editions, the organization wants to continue expanding the participation of Secondary, Baccalaureate and University students so that they can directly learn about the experiences of researchers, entrepreneurs and companies and find in them inspiration to discover new vocations and academic, professional and business possibilities related to the Blue Economy.
The forum thus also aims to become a space in which young people can directly visualize the opportunities offered by sectors that are incorporating new professional profiles and capabilities linked to science, innovation, digitalization and sustainability.
Blue Woman and female leadership
On Friday the 30th, one of its main axes will be the Blue Woman Forum, a specific space dedicated to the impact of female leadership in the Blue Economy. After its presence in the joint edition of 2024, the forum will once again focus on the role of women in the development of sectors linked to the sea and their participation in research, business, entrepreneurship and innovation.
The final day will also include a colloquium before the closing of an edition designed to bring together scientific knowledge, innovation, business activity, entrepreneurship, training and new professional opportunities under the same space.
Innovation and knowledge transfer
One of the main objectives of the Blue Zone Forum InnovAzul will once again be the presentation and dissemination of business projects and entrepreneurial initiatives linked to the different sectors of the Blue Economy. The exhibition and networking spaces will allow you to learn about innovative proposals, promote contacts and connect companies, startups, researchers, investors and institutions.
The transfer of knowledge will also occupy a central place. The collaboration between the Free Zone and the University of Cádiz seeks to facilitate research, innovation and knowledge generated in the academic field to find ways to reach the business community and, at the same time, the needs of companies and entrepreneurs can connect with existing scientific and technological capabilities.
This ecosystem includes Free Zone projects such as Incubazul and Blue Core, with which the Consortium has been expanding its strategy from the acceleration of ideas and startups to supporting the growth and consolidation of companies linked to the Blue Economy.
Culture, also in blue
The programming will also extend the meeting beyond the conference and work spaces with a cultural agenda linked to the territory and identity of Cádiz, with an artistic exhibition and musical performances.
Culture will thus have a presence as part of a broad conception of the Blue Economy and its connection with identity, heritage and territory, also showing national and international participants the creativity and singularities of the province of Cádiz.
A consolidated meeting
Blue Zone Forum InnovAzul 2026 will be the second edition of the joint format developed by Zona Franca and Universidad de Cádiz and, at the same time, the fourth edition of both the Blue Zone Forum and InnovAzul.
The meeting was born in 2023, promoted by the Cádiz Free Trade Zone and focused especially on entrepreneurship and innovation; In 2024 it joined forces with the University of Cádiz under the Blue Zone Forum InnovAzul format; and in 2025 the Blue Zone Forum Navalia Meeting was held, with shipbuilding as one of its main axes. The collaboration with the University of Cádiz is resumed this year within the agreed strategy to celebrate the InnovAzul format in even-numbered years.
The evolution of the meeting responds to the desire to progressively expand the strategic sectors linked to the Blue Economy. After the prominence acquired by shipbuilding in 2025, the roadmap for the coming years includes aquaculture in 2027 and marine renewable energies in 2029, maintaining the Blue Zone Forum as a space capable of addressing the different economic activities related to the sea from Cádiz.
For its part, and organized by the University of Cádiz and the Campus of International Excellence of the Sea, InnovAzul celebrated its first edition in 2018 as the first major International Blue Knowledge and Growth Meeting, aligned with the Andalusian strategy for the Blue Economy promoted by the Cádiz university institution itself.
In this context, InnovAzul was created as a strategic tool to promote the Blue Economy from southern Europe to ensure sustainable development linked to the seas and oceans. Over the years, this international forum continues to support a set of fundamental goals such as promoting competitiveness and sustainability, promoting the transition of companies and public administrations towards a circular economic model and guaranteeing development that is respectful of the marine environment.
Thus, InnovAzul has since been committed to the transfer of knowledge and entrepreneurship and to the need to build bridges between scientific research and the labor market so that the advances generated in universities and technology centers are applied practically in the business fabric through the direct connection between companies demanding innovation, public administrations and knowledge agents.
Open registrations
Coinciding with the presentation of Blue Zone Forum InnovAzul 2026, the registration period to participate in the conference has been opened. Registration can be formalized from today through the official website of the meeting: https://www.proyectandoenazul.es/.
The Blue Zone Forum InnovAzul 2026 is part of the ZF Blue Core-Business Incubator 4.0 project, 85% financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within the Pluriregional Operational Program of Spain FEDER 2021-2027, through the INCYDE Foundation.