Fira de Barcelona is organising the Tomorrow.Blue Economy World Congress from November 3 to 5, an international meeting on blue economy that will bring together ports, administrations, and companies at the Gran Via venue.
Fira de Barcelona will host a new edition of the Tomorrow.Blue Economy World Congress (TBEWC) from November 3 to 5, the leading international meeting on blue economy. For three days, the Gran Via venue will become the epicentre of strategies to turn the oceans into a driver of sustainable economic development.
The congress will gather representatives from ports of major cities, public administrations, international organisations, research centres, companies, and startups. The aim is to address the challenges and opportunities of the blue economy in a global context marked by energy dependence and geopolitical tensions.
The TBEWC is structured around three main congress programmes: Smart Ports, Piers of the Future; Global Blue Finance Summit; and Sustainable Ocean Summit. Each of these will address key aspects of the sector, from port innovation to financing sustainable projects.
The Smart Ports programme will bring together ports, startups, corporations, and investors to tackle the challenges of the maritime and port sector. This event will be linked to initiatives from the Port of Barcelona, such as the Lighthouse and New Latitude acceleration programmes.
Meanwhile, the Global Blue Finance Summit and the Sustainable Ocean Summit, organised by the World Ocean Council (WOC), will connect investors with scalable opportunities and provide a forum to promote collaborative solutions among companies, experts, and governments.
The City Council of Barcelona, through Barcelona Activa, will organise activities as part of the city's new Blue Economy Strategy. These will focus on fostering open innovation, exploring emerging skills, and facilitating connections between talent and companies.
The congress will feature a specific space for startups, the Ocean Innovation Hub, where 50 emerging companies from around the world specialising in blue economy will present their projects. This space will be managed by Oceanovation, a partner of the WOC.
The TBEWC has the support of the City Council of Barcelona (through Barcelona Activa), the Port of Barcelona, the World Ocean Council, Oceanovation, and Smart Ports: Piers of the Future, an initiative of the Port Authority of Barcelona.
According to the United Nations, the blue economy contributes around 1.5 trillion dollars annually to the global economy and generates over 30 million jobs. More than 80% of global trade is transported by sea, and the oceans absorb over 25% of human-caused CO₂ emissions.
In Barcelona, the blue economy encompasses over 1,600 operators, generates about 51,000 jobs, and has an annual turnover exceeding 11 billion euros, according to data from the Barcelona Blue Economy Observatory.
The EU Blue Economy Report 2025 estimates that the blue economy employs 4.82 million people in the European Union, generates a gross added value of 250.7 billion euros, and records a business volume close to 890 billion euros.
The Tomorrow.Blue Economy World Congress will take place simultaneously with other events such as the Smart City Expo World Congress, Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, Barcelona Deep Tech Summit, and Barcelona Cybersecurity Congress. Together, these meetings will gather more than 1,000 exhibitors and 25,000 attendees, turning Fira de Barcelona into the world's largest hub for urban innovation.
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