CO-CREATING A REGENERATIVE BLUE ECONOMY FOR ALL

BY DANIEL KLEINMAN

As the challenges of climate change and ocean degradation continue to grow in urgency and scope, so must the system to support solving them. Not only do we need to support the development of communities and solutions but also focus on growing larger innovation ecosystems and value chains for ocean and climate impact and technologies.

The greatest barriers to solving climate change and marine degradation aren’t technical. They are barriers to opportunity, implementation, and collaboration for people, solutions, and regions. A bottom-up approach for holistic regional development is necessary to break down systemic barriers for ocean and climate impact, which enables leveraging the other 71% of our planet as an asset against climate change. Not only do we need to support the development of communities and solutions, but we also think bigger by growing innovation ecosystems. Altogether, this bottom-up approach is key to unlocking the untapped talent and ideas that will drive the scale of regional innovation needed to collectively regenerate our blue planet.

The traditional ocean economy, known as the blue economy, has largely failed to support the development of solutions for the most urgent issues facing our blue planet: overfishing, sea-level rise, plasticization, pollution, and climate change. A lack of funding for oceanographic research and development, a private sector dominated by the defense and fossil fuel industries, and a perpetuation of limited career paths in the marine sciences all present significant systemic barriers to ocean innovation. Having spent five years in marine robotics across academia, research, and industry, I witnessed firsthand the minimal opportunities to contribute to planet-positive ocean solutions.

Furthermore, sustainability is only a step toward mitigating these problems—it doesn’t solve them. The New Blue Economy needs to be regenerative, going beyond sustainability to build holistic systems of solutions instead of siloed incremental efforts. This means driving local and regional social and economic development to collectively turn the tide on worldwide environmental decline. Seaworthy Collective was established to overcome the systemic and socioeconomic roadblocks to ocean and climate impact.

Seaworthy Collective is a Miami-based 501(c)(3) ocean innovation (aka BlueTech) incubator and community. Our mission is to enable access and inclusion in innovation for ocean and climate impact. We envision oceans of opportunity without barriers, where everyone can contribute to solutions making positive changes for our blue planet. We empower Sea Change Makers—supporting early-stage and aspiring entrepreneurs globally across diverse backgrounds and impact areas—who drive innovation for 71% of the planet (our ocean) to regenerate 100% of the planet.

Seaworthy has amassed a global network of 2,250 members, 250 mentors and collaborators, and investing partners with over $1.4 billion in assets. Seaworthy’s community programs, including the Climate Community Social Hour and Sea Change Makers Speaker Series, have educated more than 3,500 people over two years. Seaworthy’s startup programs, with its flagship Venture Studio and new Founder Mentorship Program, have supported 20 startups and 48 founders across four continents over two cohorts. Seaworthy startups have raised $6.5 million within one year of graduating, with 35% of founders coming from underrepresented backgrounds.

So, what can you do? On the funder level, if you’re in philanthropy or investing, you can look at supporting developing ecosystems, the people developing the deal flow and the pipeline of talent and ideas. If you’re looking to get into ocean entrepreneurship, there are venture studios like us and other accelerator programs like Endeavor that can help co-create or grow your solution. Even if you aren’t ready to take the leap into entrepreneurship and want to support the entrepreneurs and ideas and solutions we need, everyone can be part of the community. There are no prerequisites. And that is how we build up not only the financial capital but also the human capital that we need to see the development of our local blue economy.

Nicholas Key is a Jamaican seaweed farmer helping fisher folk whose families’ livelihoods have been taken away due to overfishing by giving them work that’s not only regenerating the environment but also bringing them out of poverty.

Daniel Kleinman is a systems thinker and marine roboticist who has piloted, tested, and designed unmanned underwater vehicles for ocean science, exploration, and naval research. Throughout his career spanning research, industry, and academia, Kleinman saw significant barriers and minimal opportunities to contribute to planet-positive ocean solutions. He founded Seaworthy Collective to overcome the silos he and fellow environmentally passionate changemakers faced by building the community and programs to support current and aspiring innovators driving regenerative ocean and climate impact.