In this conversation, Kendra MacDonald, CEO of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, discusses the challenges and opportunities in the blue economy moving to a blue regenerative economy. She emphasizes the importance of collaboration and innovation and relates it to her career transition from consulting seven years ago to network and promote technology and investment in the ocean sector. The dialogue also highlights the role of women in global ocean leadership.

Takeaways

* Awareness of ocean issues is crucial for driving change.

* Kendra’s career transition highlights the importance of passion in leadership.

* Technology and innovation play a key role in ocean sustainability in her work.

* Global collaboration is essential for addressing ocean challenges.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction of Kendra and her relation to the Ocean

04:05 Kendra as the Voice of the Ocean

05:46 Her Career Transition from Corporate to Ocean

08:31 Connecting and Collaborating

11:50 Women in Ocean Leadership

16:09 Highlights of Collaboration

18:37 Global Supercluster Collaboration

21:36 Barriers to Collaboration

25:43 Towards a Regenerative Blue Economy

29:11 Collaboration with the Global South

31:19 The Need for Time and Resources

33:37 Engagement with UN Initiatives

Kendra on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendra-macdonald-40b574

Canada Ocean Supercluster Webpage: https://oceansupercluster.ca

Linklist from Kendra:

* BTCA | BlueTech Cluster Alliance: a global network of industry-led BlueTech clusters that are committed to collaboration, developing joint-projects, promoting each other’s member companies, and sharing information.

* Horizon Europe the EU’s funding programme for research and innovation

* AltaSea Home - AltaSea: AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles is dedicated to accelerating scientific collaboration, advancing an emerging Blue Economy through business innovation, and job creation, and inspiring the next generation, all for a more sustainable, just, and equitable world

* SeaAhead: SeaAhead brings together entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, and stakeholders. In just a few years, SeaAhead has grown into an open-innovation ecosystem that produces scalable commercial solutions to modern-day challenges

* Global Ecosystem for Ocean Solutions (GEOS) | Ocean Visions: a transformative initiative, proudly endorsed by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. GEOS aims to accelerate collaboration across diverse sectors and geographies, fostering a globally distributed community dedicated to delivering innovative, effective, and durable solutions to the ocean-climate crisis. The GEOS program advances Ocean Visions’ mission by building and strengthening inclusive partnerships to further the development of ocean-based climate solutions internationally (webpage includes Columbia and the Patagonia cluster)

* Blue Week Los Lagos | Welcu: Con la misión de posicionar la Patagonia chilena como un hub global para la Economía Azul, Blue Week Los Lagos 2025 impulsa la colaboración entre líderes de la industria, startups, inversionistas, actores públicos y privados tanto de Chile como del mundo..

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