Conference Program

Seagriculture EU
17 - 19 June 2025
Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Conference Program

Theme of Seagriculture EU 2025: Seaweed 2.0: Today’s scaling for tomorrow’s needs

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The theme “Seaweed 2.0: Today’s scaling for tomorrow’s needs” represents a call to action for the professionalization and scaling of the seaweed industry to meet the growing global demand for sustainable solutions. Collaboration across the value chain is crucial - bringing together producers, policymakers, investors, and buyers to bridge gaps and foster synergy. By working collectively across the value chain, the industry can establish a robust and resilient infrastructure, ensuring scalability and sustainability to address tomorrow’s challenges and opportunities.

Program is tentative and subject to change.

Site visit to Hortimare & NIOZ: Tuesday 17 June 2024

The site visits will take place on 17 June 2025.

You can either join the site visit to Hortimare or NIOZ. Find out more!

Conference day 1: Wednesday 18 June 2024

8:00 - 9:00 Welcome Coffee

9:00 - 9:25 Opening of the conference

Session 1: Roadmap for the European seaweed industry

This session will be developed by DLG and the North Sea Farmers, in close collaboration will various national governments and the EU.

10:45 - 11:15 Coffee Break / Trade Show

Session 2: Professionalizing the seaweed industry: learning from pioneers

During this second session leading pioneers from various emerging industries will share their experiences on how they developed their businesses, how they learned from failures, and monetized opportunities.

The details will be provided soon

Haik van Exel, Managing Director, Hortimare, Netherlands

12:55 - 14:10 Lunch / Trade Show

Session 3: Collaboration as a tool to a successful seaweed industry

As the African proverb tells us, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” During the past 15 years collaboration within the seaweed industry was highly underdeveloped. During this session 3 speakers will demonstrate the value of collaboration.

Norwegian Seaweed Cluster – how can collaboration enable a new industry?

Elin Njåstad, CEO, Norwegian Seaweed Cluster, Norway

Beyond Competition: Why Collective Growth is the Future of Seaweed

Alexander Ebbing, CTO & Co-founder, Ebbing Tides, The Netherlands

15:30 - 16:00 Coffee Break / Trade Show

Session 4: Panel discussion on seaweed investments and business aspects

During this panel discussion, a number of seaweed business and investment experts will share their vision on the seaweed industry in Europe and abroad, on needs and expectations, and on what the next steps should be.

Panelist

Richard Piechocki, Lead Financing the Bioeconomy, Rabobank, The Netherlands

Panelist

Morgan Ræ, Founder & Director, L’eautelier, Belgium/USA

Seaweed Elevator Pitches

The Seaweed Elevator Pitches offer a unique, fast-paced, and diverse session where presenters have five minutes to deliver a concise, impactful presentation on their activities and innovative ideas. All topics are possible as long as they deal with seaweeds.

Technology development for kelp nurseries

Aurora Tung Nilsen, Master of Science, SINTEF Ocean, Norway

17:45 Pick-up at the De Doelen. A bus will bring participants to Blue City for the conference dinner

18:15 - 21:30 Conference dinner at Blue City

Conference day 2: Thursday 19 June 2024

8:00 - 9:00 Welcome Coffee

9:00 - 9:15 Opening of the conference day

Session 5: Novel seaweed applications: value-added products and market opportunities

The Seagriculture conference is not complete without this session. Three speakers will present their work on processing aspects, market opportunities, and (novel) seaweed applications.

10:35 - 11:05 Coffee Break / Trade Show

Session 6: Seaweed 2.0: Today’s scaling for tomorrow’s needs

Experts will discuss the state of play of the global seaweed industry. What is the status today and where are we heading to?

Assessing Sentiment Towards Seaweed Aquaculture In Media With Integrated AI-Human Approaches

Bailey Moritz, Lead Specialist, Seaweed Farming, World Wildlife Fund, The United States of America

12:25 - 13:40 Lunch / Trade Show

Session 7: Seaweeds as a tool for ecosystem services

For many years seaweeds have been glorified as the ultimate solution for climate change. During this session experts will give a realistic overview of what seaweeds can really bring to global ecosystems.