Brussels, June 11, 2026 (Lusa) - Lisbon and Oeiras will coordinate the NEB Ocean Lab, a European laboratory aimed at developing sustainable solutions and projects related to the sea and rivers, an area in which Portugal has already coordinated the first pilot projects.
“Portugal was the only country in Southern Europe to coordinate one of the six flagship projects of the "Bauhaus of the Seas" and will coordinate the NEB Ocean LAB,” Nuno Jardim Nunes, project leader at the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon, told the Lusa news agency.
The NEB Ocean LAB, which will operate across several European countries, is part of the "Ocean Pact", the new European legislation for the protection of the oceans, and in Portugal “it will be coordinated by Lisbon and Oeiras”, stated the leader, who took part in the New European Bauhaus Festival, on Wednesday, where the Portuguese pilot project “À flor do azulejo, a cor do Tejo” is on display.
This involves the creation of tiles made from oyster shells and seaweed, a project developed by the Bauhaus of the Seas Sails consortium, coordinated by the Institute of Interactive Technologies at the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon, and involving 18 academic partners from seven European cities: Oeiras and Lisbon (Portugal), Venice and Genoa (Italy), Hamburg (Germany), Malmö (Sweden), and Rotterdam and the Scheldt and Rhine river deltas in the Netherlands.
“The Ocean Lab is not a closed physical site; it is a network that relies heavily on the work we have developed at the Bauhaus of the Seas, which the European Commission has recognised as fundamental,” stated Nuno Jardim Nunes.
Although the amount of funding for this laboratory has not yet been finalised, the coordinator hopes “that it will be substantial funding”, which, in Portugal’s case, will allow the work to be extended to the Azores and Madeira.
“We have two outermost regions, we have a vast coastline, and it is important that Portugal can lead this aspect of the Bauhaus of the Seas,” argued the leader of the consortium, which over the last three years has been developing projects linked to aquatic ecosystems.
In the Portuguese case, in addition to the manufacture of tiles from oyster shells, there are “PhD students working with these materials, for example, including digital technology”, which could result, he explained, “in the use of these materials for 3D printing, without the need for plastic”.
“This is an example of the practical application of these materials; it is being done with tiles,” but, he cautioned, “the European Union also needs to understand that it must speed up certification processes, which are often the main barrier to the adoption of these new ideas.”
Nuno Jardim Nunes was speaking to Lusa during a visit to the exhibition where the Portuguese project was one of six visited by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, António Costa, during a visit to the fair featuring 80 exhibitors from all member states with projects developed under the New European Bauhaus, a movement promoting research into more sustainable solutions.
The fair is one of the components of the New European Bauhaus Festival, which runs until Saturday in Brussels under the slogan “Life. Spaces. Buildings”.
The festival, organised by the European Commission, brings together “creators, innovators and change-makers” from across the European Union (EU) to reflect on “how communities can work together to design more sustainable, inclusive and resilient homes and neighbourhoods”.
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