Now in its third year, NC State Global is planning to continue the work with colleagues in the Raleigh and Rostock regions on Sustainable Innovation Across the Atlantic. 

In the Fall 2026, NC State Global will partner with NC State’s Entrepreneurship Program to assemble a cohort of six student innovators interested in sustainable entrepreneurship. The cohort will meet in October and November for three, 90-minute virtual meetings examining the different facets of sustainable innovation in Raleigh and Rostock, with each meeting featuring a new topic and speakers from each region. In December, the cohort will travel to Rostock for a 3-day trip to engage directly with innovators and entrepreneurs in person. In the Spring semester of 2027, the cohort will present to the NC State and Raleigh community on their experience in the program, illuminating to community members the strengths of innovation in each region. The program will also include 1 day in Berlin talking with policy makers.

2025’s program provided a deeper dive into how coastal economies innovate in both North Carolina and Germany. 

The Blue Economy Innovation Program’s 5th Annual “Creating Solutions for the Global Blue Economy” Workshop was held October 24-25, 2025 at NC State’s coastal campus in Morehead City, NC.

The workshop offered a rare chance for students to develop real solutions for the coast – solutions that blend science, creativity and innovation. In addition to it’s North Carolina focus, the program offered a comparative look at how North Carolina, U.S., and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, approach innovation and sustainability on their respective coasts. Key partners for the workshop included Raleigh Sister Cities, The University of Rostock, The City of Rostock, and the Ocean Technology Campus in Rostock.  

Speakers from Rostock included:

• Dr. Leonie Kandler, University of Rostock Department of Maritime Systems
• Dr. Ralf Prien, Senior Scientist for the Institute for Baltic Sea Research
• Dr. Regine Labrenz, Member of the cluster council for the Ocean Technology Campus Rostock
• Sabine Brüser, Center for Digital Innovation Rostock, University of Rostock EU-CONEXUS program

Topics that were discussed included:

• Aqua-/mariculture
• Coastal Erosion & Water Quality
• Marine Renewable Energy
• Coastal Flooding & Saltwater Intrusion
• Sensor development and AI

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.