The RAMSSES project has the strategic objective to obtain recognition and an established role for advanced materials in the European maritime industry. To achieve this the project will demonstrate the benefits of new materials in thirteen industry led and market driven demonstrator cases along the entire maritime process chain from components through equipment and ship integration to repair. Those demonstrators will reach a high Technology Readiness Level between TRL 6 and 8 and will either be installed on shore under close to reality conditions or validated on board. The technical performance as well as life cycle cost efficiency and environmental impact will be assessed and validated by specific expert teams following common procedures and testing standards. The test program will be based on risk assessment and a widest possible use of existing test results and supervised by rule making bodies, such ensuring relevance for a commercial approval beyond the project. Test data as well as best practice procedures on design, qualification and production of new material solutions will be made available in a maritime test database and a central knowledge repository, thus allowing fast qualification and approval of similar maritime applications in future. RAMSSES also aims to improve the innovation capabilities of the European maritime sector by elaborating terms of reference of a future use of the test database and the knowledge repository beyond the project. In cooperation with other initiatives, it will contribute to the formation of a maritime materials innovation Platform including continuous technology transfer from and to other industry sectors.

The last few decades have seen rapid proliferation of hard artificial structures (e.g., offshore energy, port infrastructure, aquaculture, coastal defences) in the marine environment (ocean sprawl). 70% of coastal and marine infrastructure (CMI) is concrete, yet concrete is known as a poor substrate for marine flora and fauna to thrive. Cement, the key ingredient of concrete, is the source of 8% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. Due to a lack of available concrete alternatives, CMI is designed and built with little or no ecological consideration, leading to high ecological footprint of structures like ports and coastal defence schemes often resulting in environmental penalties (€900K per acre or mitigation costs through via artificial reefs) and a prolonged permitting process (<1 year). ECOncrete® has created and validated a win-win solution for both thriving ecosystems and high performing concrete structures. The science-based innovative technology is designed to encourage the development of rich and diverse marine life and natural processes like calcification and photosynthesis (that uptake CO2 ) as an integral part of CMI such as seawalls, breakwaters, and urban waterfronts, providing highly durable, bioenhancing concrete solutions and Climate Change resilience. The LIVING PORTS project is composed of an interdisciplinary consortium of 4 partners, each chosen to actively participate in the de-risking and industrialization of ECOncrete’s® revolutionary technology. The project shall act as a first and crucial step toward a fundamental change in the way the CMI industry currently operates, shifting from obsolete “gray” construction materials and designs, to innovative science-based technologies that foster ecological, estructural, and socio-economic value.