O porto de Lisboa deu mais um passo na concretização do Ocean Campus, com a assinatura de dois contratos de concessão, entre a APL e a Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, e entre a APL e a Fundação Champalimaud.

Com o projeto Ocean Campus, nasce um espaço de inovação e empreendedorismo, que junta na área de jurisdição do Porto de Lisboa, um Cluster de atividades ligadas à economia azul e ao mar assente nos pilares do Conhecimento, Economia, Investigação e Vida, um espaço aberto a todos os cidadãos que privilegiará soluções ambientalmente sustentáveis e de mobilidade suave.

Os dois contratos de concessão envolvem um investimento inicial de 70 milhões de euros.

José Castel-Branco, Vogal do Conselho de Administração da APL, recordou a propósito que «o Ocean Campus prevê a requalificação de um total de 64 hectares, em Lisboa e Oeiras, junto ao Tejo, com o investimento de 300 milhões de euros, maioritariamente privado, na criação de espaços multifuncionais e ambientalmente sustentáveis, unidades de ensino, desenvolvimento tecnológico, inovação e investigação qualificada, de que são exemplos, hoje, estas parcerias assinadas com as fundações Champalimaud e Gulbenkian, a que felicitamos pelas respetivas iniciativas e a quem formulamos os maiores sucessos para os seus projetos de investimento!».

The maritime-based economy and blue growth are inevitably linked to facilities and infrastructures located on land, which should preferably be located in land-water interface areas, such as ports. Therefore, ports are key players in the blue economy, though often imperceptibly.

The Ocean Campus Strategic Plan, from Pedrouços to Jamor, aims at positioning the port of Lisbon as a promoter of blue growth in Portugal, implementing a true cluster of the blue economy through the creation of an environment favourable to the development of synergies and shared infrastructures.

This project was developed by the Architect Falcão de Campos in close connection with APL, S. A. and the municipalities of Lisbon and Oeiras. It will gather in the same place different blue economy stakeholders in an innovative way, providing the establishment of a network of research, teaching and technological development units, and, at the same time, will rehabilitate an area of about 64 ha, along the riverfront area between Pedrouços and Cruz Quebrada.

Ocean Campus will be a place of international reference in the marine sciences and blue economy fields, and at the same time will recover the connection between land and sea, returning this place to citizens.

According to the project, a major part of the sea cluster, with public institutions dedicated to the sea, research laboratories, start-ups, accommodation for researchers and a marina, including mooring stations for ships, will be established in Doca de Pedrouços and its surroundings. 

To the west, in the area of the Algés embankment, where the resources that guarantee port safety are located, an educational campus linked to the investigation of the sea issues - the Blue Business School – will be built. In the area currently known as Algés Maritime Promenade, which extends to the Jamor River, the intention is to create public spaces that complement and requalify the Dafundo and Cruz Quebrada areas. Next to Jamor, a remarkable building for a hotel unit stands out, reinforcing the support to all the existing sports area in Jamor Urban Park, and also to Jamor Marina, currently under Environmental Impact Assessment.