Marc García-Durán Huet, Executive President and Founder of Underwater Gardens International SL: Redesigning underwater living conditions implies positive impacts at social, economic, environmental and technological level.
BIOGRAPHY
Marc García-Durán Huet is a diver, architect, urban planner and entrepreneur. He is the Founder and CEO of Underwater Gardens International SL, a knowledge-based cross-initiative which offers solutions for adaptation to climate change in coastal areas.
The initiative has been recognised as a developing project of the UN Decade of the Oceans, a European Leading Project of the Blue Economy, and a Strategic Project in Tenerife, just to mention some acknowledgments. He therefore leads a multidisciplinary team that combines scientific knowledge, spatial planning, and social impact.
Since its establishment, Underwater Gardens International SL has been fighting against severe impacts of climate change and ecosystems degradation, responding directly to global oceans challenges with an educational mission and awareness beyond the regenerative vision and business.
This project stands out for offering solutions that increase biodiversity, adapt to climate change, and generate carbon sinks, boosting Blue and Socio-Economic growth.
So far, they are promoting the formation of a consortium of leading international experts in marine ecosystems, funded by the European Union COST Programme (European Cooperation in Science & Technology) aimed at providing funding addressed to researchers and innovators to set up interconnected, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research networks.
MONACŒCOART® met Marc García-Durán Huet to debate on the importance of building up seabed regeneration architecture through innovative high technology capable of triggering a real change towards Sustainability.
🔸KEY TOPICS = 🗣️ IDEA & ADDED VALUE >> 🗣️ MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE >> 🗣️ NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS & ESG CRITERIA >> 🗣️ PHILANTHROPY AND NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS >> 🗣️ SMART ENHANCED REEFS (SER®) >> 🗣️ UPDATED DEFINITION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT >> 🗣️ BCN SOTAMAR PROJECT
🎙INTERVIEW
MONACŒCOART®: Your innovative business brings together several professionals to offer integrated services for seabed regeneration, affecting social, economic, technological, and environmental awareness. How did this idea come about? Who or what inspired it? What is the added value?
🗣️ Marc García-Durán Huet : It may seem trivial but Steve Jobs' famous talk on "Connecting the dots" applies perfectly to the birth of this project. Personally, being the son of a professor of economics, I have seen the world through that lens and I have also been fascinated by science, art and deep-sea since my childhood and adolescence. At that time, I started practicing apnoea and reading the Encyclopedia of the Sea by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Then, as an architect and urbanist, I focused on territorial transformation and design of human environment. Last but not least, during my visit to India, I met Vicente Ferrer, a Spanish missionary who created the Rural Development Trust through a unique model of social shift. All that brought me to actively participate in meaningful projects, such as Forum and 22@, aimed at fostering Barcelona urban change.
In 2005, I considered creating a new pact with Nature. Notably, taking care of the environmental ecosystem able to bring a new way of living with it. The core of our project can be summed up in the following statement: "We are Gardeners of the Sea". It refers directly to our mission of regeneration and our dedication to technological innovation, while raising awareness, at social level, to preserve marine biodiversity and various ecosystems. Just as a gardener looks after the nature of a garden, we look after the ocean.
MONACŒCOART®: What is the most important issue you consider in your work?
🗣️ Marc García-Durán Huet : In our opinion, Nature is our main customer. Based on this premise, we federate key actors around the need to improve marine ecosystems, generating a positive impact on the environment while providing the financial profitability that allows the continuity of its virtuous management.
We do believe that caring for Nature is caring for people and society. Our approach is therefore based on a business model that allows regeneration, produces positive impact, and covers social, cultural, scientific, technological, and natural areas, at the same time. This model includes several steps that are adapted to the specific needs of each territory. In particular, they are structured through leading sectors like: tourism, leisure, technological development and CO2 capture, just to mention a few.
We always pursue our objectives through a scientific protocol which we develop for covering marine and land operations design. The combination of both dimensions is what we define as a regenerative park. We are currently promoting our first regenerative site in the Canary Islands, classified as Proyecto Estratégico y de Interés Insular (Strategic Project of Insular Interest) by the Plenary Session of the Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria (Insular Council of Gran Canaria), given its full alignment with the economic and environmental targets to implement local resilience.
Our regenerative parks are settled in areas degraded by human activity, thus causing loss of ecological quality. Therefore, we would like to push their regeneration and make threatened habitats to achieve Sustainability.
MONACŒCOART®: You have recently affirmed that your intervention contributes to 'Blue Growth' by promoting Circular Economy based on solutions inspired by Nature (Biomimicry), climate change mitigation and any form of entertainment in order to educate and have fun (Edutainment), what does all this mean and how can it relate to ESG criteria?
🗣️ Marc García-Durán Huet : At Underwater Gardens International, we align with Circular Economy through life-based solutions recalling biomimicry. In fact, we replicate natural patterns in our interventions. By increasing biodiversity and combating climate change through carbon sinks we are engaged in improving coastal resilience, while driving blue growth and local socio-economic development. Through this community model, we contribute to convert beneficiaries into benefactors, empowering them to regenerate the environment, aligning these practices with ESG criteria and promoting a lasting positive impact. Our approach is a Nature-Based Solution (NBS) to encourage the protection and improvement of ecosystem services on coastlines.
We work with over 350 scientists from forty-three countries to accelerate knowledge transfer and the creation of regenerative solutions, in partnership with international actors like MAF WORLD, financed by the European Union. This global approach reinforces our commitment to ESG by promoting sustainable and replicable practices worldwide.
In addition, our model combines education and entertainment (Edutainment) through experiences that connect emotionally with people. Each initiative is designed to educate and raise awareness, integrating the importance of marine ecosystems and sustainability, both professionally and user-friendly. This approach also inspires meaningful actions in ocean conservation, pursuing ESG goals in terms of environmental, social, and economic sustainability.
MONACŒCOART®: You have been awarded for using cutting-edge tools, notably the Smart Enhanced Reefs (SER®) software. Can you tell us which of your missions has surprised you more in terms of results or actions to achieve the result? How does technology contribute to hit the edge?
🗣️ Marc García-Durán Huet : Marine regeneration requires the use of different tools specific to any sea depth and ecozone. But above all, it implies a strategy corresponding to the health status of each area. To do this, we have developed a diagnostic protocol, the reefhopper®, an innovative software that allows you to determine the way to act in each situation, as well as the elements to be used.
We are able to properly combine species of algae, corals, sponges etc., to attract marine bio constructor species and thus create SEA GARDENS, thanks to the support of Smart Enhanced Reefs (SER®), combined with advanced restoration methodologies. Overall, Nature-Based Solutions are expected to be applied on a large scale.
The "floating reefs" we used in the Red Sea (special application of SER®) proved to be effective in the regeneration of large coral reefs ecosystems, at an incredible speed.
MONACŒCOART®: If you were asked to give an updated definition of Sustainable Development (compared with the Brundtland Report - 1987), based on your professional experience what would you say? And why?
🗣️ Marc García-Durán Huet : I would focus on the creation of integrated systems which allow a symbiosis between human activities and natural ecosystems. It is not only about meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generations, but also about regenerating what has been deteriorated, thus ensuring the resilience of Planet Earth as a whole. On the contrary, Sustainability is often considered only as a driver preventing further damage to nature. Nowadays, we cannot just maintain or conserve the little that remains, but we have to accelerate restoration of ecosystems that we (Humans) have deeply impacted, both directly and indirectly. We are willing to move from degeneration to regeneration, promoting development that restores and increases natural resources, instead of simply preserving them.
Moreover, I do believe that implementing a continuous adaptation approach is crucial. Today, we are witnessing a very worrying excess of impacts (e.g.: pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss) that are increasingly cumulative and synergistic. These impacts and the subsequent degradation of marine ecosystems must be considered in any regenerative process. Accordingly, various experts from different disciplines need to work together to understand how we can regenerate habitats and maintain their interconnectivity. It is essential that we all work jointly to enable this continuous and constant change, while tackling any challenge simultaneously.
MONACŒCOART®: You recently presented the BCN Sotamar project. What is it and what are its objectives? Do you have any other projects in the near future that you may or want to talk about?
🗣️ Marc García-Durán Huet : Underwater Gardens International has always promoted the vision of designing a large Submarine Central Park, facing Barcelona and its renowned beaches. The project helps to balance pollutant emissions, improve water quality, and provide multiple leisure options in the marine space: from diving to recreational fishing. We are therefore very pleased to accompany BCN Port Innovation Foundationlaying the groundwork of the BCN Sotamar project, celebrating the 37th edition of the most popular American Cup, held in Barcelona.
The BCN Sotamar project has been recently launched by immersing a symbolic Smart Enhanced Reef (SER) in the shape of the America’s Cup Prize in one of the water tanks at L'Aquàrium (The Aquarium) of Barcelona. In particular, it aims to restore marine biodiversity through innovative biotopes (SER®) at Sant Sebastià beach. These underwater installations, designed with the scientific know-how of Underwater Gardens International, are the first step of a much more ambitious plan to combat human impacts and climate change through carbon sinks promoting Blue Growth and the Circular Economy.
In addition, we have participated in the installation of fifty SERs at the Barcelona Olympic Port and, at present, we are working on the fitting of new regenerative parks in locations that we cannot reveal yet. So, stay tuned for the follow-up. ***
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By Maurice Abbati
Journalist; Editor; Communication, Media and Public Relations Specialist
Lecturer and Author in English language of Technical Articles and the Manual: "Communicating the Environment to Save the Planet, a Journey into Eco-Communication" by Springer International Publishing.
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