"BLOCOYSTER" is the winning project of the sixth edition of the Mares Circulares Competition, in the Research Centers category, with a prize of 7000 euros. Mares Circulares, an initiative promoted by LPN – Liga para a Protecção da Natureza in partnership with Coca-Cola, aims to support the development of innovative solutions and technologies that promote the circular economy in the fight against waste in the seas, oceans and river environments.

The "BLOCOYSTER – sustainable blocks with the incorporation of aquaculture waste" project contributes to the sustainable blue economy by reducing pollution caused by aquaculture waste in the environment. Through the use of oyster shells in the production of building blocks, it focuses on a solution that uses local materials, increasing the value chain and reducing the carbon footprint. This project promotes circularity between economic sectors, using bivalve waste from the maritime sector to create new products in the construction sector. It began in March 2024 and will last for one year.

It has researchers from the research centers Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CERIS), Centro de Recursos Naturais e Ambiente (CERENA) and of Centro em Território, Urbanismo e Arquitetura (CiTUA) at IST and is coordinated by Professor Inês Flores-Colen (DECivil/CERIS). The team is made up of Professors Manuel Francisco Costa Pereira (DER) and Ana Paula Veira Soares Pereira Dias (DQ) and several members of DECivil: doctoral researchers Rui Vasco Silva and Maria Paula Mendes, doctoral students Poliana Bellei, Fernanda Caroline and Xiwen Fu and master's students Nicollas Moreira and Giovanna Schafer.

DECivil congratulates professor Inês Flores-Colen, researchers Rui Vasco Silva and Maria Paula Mendes, doctoral students Poliana Bellei, Fernanda Caroline and Xiwen Fu and master's students Nicollas Moreira and Giovanna Schafer for this award and wishes them all greatest happiness.