Blue Growth, Green Balance: Sustainable Aquaculture & Biodiversity

• May 4, 2026

8 June 2026 | 12:00 CET | Online

On 8 June 2026, the PHAROS Project with Impact Hub Athens & ICORSA will host the fifth session of its “Meet the Oceanpreneur” webinar series, titled “Blue Growth, Green Balance: Sustainable Aquaculture & Biodiversity.” The session will bring together innovators, researchers, and practitioners to examine one of the blue economy’s defining tensions: how to grow ocean-based industries without eroding the ecosystems that make them possible.

Webinar Format:

Each 50-minute webinar follows a fireside chat format featuring storytelling, real-world insights, and meaningful exchange. Two speakers present their work in 10-minute segments, followed by a 20-minute moderated discussion and a 10-minute live Q&A. The sessions are fast-paced, focused, and designed to maximize impact.

Who Should Attend:

Innovators, researchers, and changemakers across the blue economy, including startups, academics, students, local authorities, policymakers, private sector leaders, educators, and civil society.

Context and Background

The webinar is organised under the Meet the Oceanpreneur programme, with session leadership from Impact Hub Athens and ICORSA support. Sustainable aquaculture sits at the intersection of food security, marine biodiversity, and climate resilience, making this session directly relevant to PHAROS’s core mission of restoring ocean health while enabling responsible economic activity. The discussion is framed not as a compromise between growth and ecology, but as a case for their interdependence.

This session explores how blue growth can be achieved while maintaining ecological balance, with a focus on sustainable aquaculture, regenerative ocean practices, and biodiversity protection. Bringing together innovators and entrepreneurs working directly with marine ecosystems, the discussion highlights emerging approaches that enable ocean-based industries to grow responsibly while supporting resilient food systems, ecosystem restoration, and the sustainable use of marine resources.

The session will also examine how entrepreneurship, innovation, and nature-based solutions can contribute to healthier oceans and more resilient coastal economies, while addressing current environmental pressures affecting marine biodiversity and aquaculture systems.

The Core: Restoration as the Foundation of Growth

The session’s central argument is that ecological balance is not a constraint on blue growth, it is its precondition. Aquaculture that depletes biodiversity, degrades habitats, or disrupts marine food webs ultimately undermines its own long-term viability. Conversely, production systems that integrate ecosystem restoration, such as eco-engineered structures that encourage species recolonisation, regenerate the natural capital on which food systems and coastal economies depend.

---

Event Details

Title: Blue Growth, Green Balance: Sustainable Aquaculture & Biodiversity
Date: Monday, 8 June 2026
Time: 12:00 – 12:50 CET (50 minutes)
Format: Online via Zoom
Host: Impact Hub Athens

---

About the Panelists

---

Host

---

Dimitris Kokkinakis

CEO & Co-Founder, Impact Hub Athens

Dimitris Kokkinakis is a social entrepreneur and community-builder, he co-founded Impact Hub Athens in 2013, an ever-growing ecosystem of social innovators and entrepreneurs driving change through responsible, inclusive, and sustainability-driven initiatives. Impact Hub Athens is part of the global Impact Hub network, present in over 110 cities worldwide, connecting people, places, and programs to inspire, support, and catalyze impact. Since a young age he has been actively involved in national and international organizations and networks, working with diverse communities across sectors including entrepreneurship, the arts, and environment. Under his co-leadership, Impact Hub Athens has implemented large-scale initiatives at local, national, and EU levels, focusing on sustainability, inclusion, and climate resilience.

---

Moderator

---

Marion Besançon

European and International Policy Officer, Ifremer

Marion is an expert in community engagement and has been working for several years on supporting public policies for the preservation of the marine environment. Currently at Ifremer, a French public research institute entirely dedicated to the ocean, she is involved in establishing collaborations and projects at European and international level.

---

Speakers

---

Marc García-Durán Huet

UGI – Underwater Gardens International

Marc is an architect, urban planner and diver, and he has been promoting marine regeneration and sustainable tourism projects since 2016, integrating science, biotechnology, and territorial design. He advocates for a paradigm shift in response to the climate crisis: moving from being mere exploiters of nature to becoming caretakers of ecosystems, like true gardeners of the planet.

Presentation focus:

• Underwater habitat restoration and biodiversity enhancement
• Designing regenerative marine ecosystems through innovation and applied science
• Connecting entrepreneurship with marine conservation and ecosystem services
• Raising awareness and engaging communities around ocean restoration practices

George Birch

Founder and Business Lead, Oyster Heaven

George Birch has a background in marine ecology and experience spanning marine conservation and sustainable finance. After working with the Blue Marine Foundation and in sustainable asset management at Janus Henderson, he founded Oyster Heaven in 2021. The startup partners with ocean-dependent companies to restore marine ecosystems at scale by rebuilding oyster reefs. As founder, George leads growth and strategic partnerships, driving Oyster Heaven’s mission to regenerate healthy oceans. Oyster Heaven is now the largest oyster restoration organisation in Europe, with commercial projects in three countries and a pipeline of additional opportunities across the North Sea and the British Isles.

Presentation focus:

• Regenerative aquaculture and oyster reef restoration as tools for ecosystem recovery
• The role of shellfish farming in improving marine biodiversity and water quality
• Building economically viable and environmentally positive aquaculture models
• Community engagement and scaling nature-based marine solutions

---

About the PHAROS Citizen Litter Entrepreneur Programme

The Citizen Litter Entrepreneur Programme is part of the EU-funded PHAROS project, which develops innovative nature-based solutions to restore marine ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, and address climate change across the Atlantic and Arctic regions. The programme empowers citizens and entrepreneurs to transform ocean plastic waste into sustainable business opportunities through training, tools, and circular economy ventures.