Clean Economy Bridge

This year’s Clean Economy Bridge project will build on our successful 2024 “NC and the Ostsee” collaboration, and provide a deeper dive into how coastal economies innovate in both North Carolina and Germany. 

In Fall 2025, NC State’s Blue Economy Innovation Program will host students, staff, and faculty in Morehead City for a workshop on “Creating Solutions for the Global Blue Economy.” The program will offer a comparative look at how North Carolina, U.S., and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, approach innovation and sustainability on their respective coasts. Key partners include Raleigh Sister Cities, The University of Rostock, The City of Rostock, and the Ocean Technology Campus in Rostock.  

Additional details will be available soon.

This project is a collaboration between NC State Global and the NC State Climate Solutions Collaborative, specifically with the NC State Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative, NC State KIETS Climate Leaders Program, and Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (SE CASC) at NC State, as well as with Raleigh Sister Cities.

• Opening Seminar
  • September 13, 2024. 11:00AM – 12:00PM. Virtual
  • This event introduced the Raleigh and Rostock areas and provided a Transatlantic comparison of the environmental issues and sustainability solutions for each area.
    • Speakers:
    • Opening remarks from Consul General Melanie Moltmann, German Consulate in Atlanta
    • Tal Ben-Horin, PhD, NC State College of Veterinary Medicine
    • Inna Sokolova, PhD, Universität Rostock, Chair of Marine Biology
    • Moderated by Seth Murray, PhD, NC State College of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Comparing Flooding in Global Watersheds
  • September 20, 2024. 9:00AM – 10:30AM. Hunt Library.
  • This panel was a part of the KIETS Climate Fellows, Think and Do: Climate Challenges and Solutions symposium.
  • View recording of event here
    • Speakers:
    • Jack Kurki-Fox, NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
    • Shrikar Nunna, NC Department of Environmental Quality, Director of Legislative Affairs
    • Miaorun Wang, Universität Rostock Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    • Dieter Vollert, City of Rostock, Department for Environment and Climate
• Creating Solutions for the Blue Economy Workshop
  • October 14-15, 2024. Morehead City, NC.
  • The Clean Economy Bridge was a partner in the 4th annual Blue Economy Workshop, hosted in Morehead City with the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST).
  • As a part of the project, speakers from Universität Rostock and the Digitales Innovationszentrum Rostock joined us in North Carolina to talk about blue economy innovation at the Baltic.
    • Speakers:
    • Luisa-Maria Wendt, Digitales Innovationszentrum Rostock
    • Sabine Brüser, Digitales Innovationszentrum Rostock, Universität Rostock
• Global Change Seminar – Bridging Borders: Collaborative Approaches to Watershed Resilience
  • November 8, 2024. 10:30AM – 12:00PM. Virtual
  • For this event, the Clean Economy Bridge project partnered with the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center for an event on applied research successes in upland watershed resilience in the Southeast United States and the trans-coastal sustainability management around the Baltic Sea in Rostock, Germany.
  • View recording here
    • Speakers:
    • Ansgar Leefken, Universität Rostock, Chair of Marine Engineering
    • Bill Hunt, NC State William Neal Reynolds Distinguished University Professor and Extension Specialist
    • Andrew Fox, NC State Coastal Dynamics Design Lab, Professor and University Faculty Scholar
• Closing Seminar
  • November 21, 2024. 6:00PM – 8:00PM. Duke Energy Hall.