The marina Cala dei Sardi, in Sardinia, hosted the fifth stage of the Blue Marina Awards 2026, dedicated to “Marina Net-Zero: clean energy, sustainable marina and protection of the sea”. The event highlighted the challenges and opportunities for an energy and environmental transition in the nautical sector, with a focus on biodiversity, sustainable technologies and shared management models. The initiative has seen the participation of representatives of institutions, research, university, shipbuilding, marine protected areas, category associations and sailing sports.
Sustainability as measurable
A central theme of the meeting was the role of measuring sustainability. The BESI – BMA Event Sustainability Index, a system developed by the Blue Marina Awards, was used to evaluate the environmental footprint of the event. The index considers different parameters related to the organization of the event, such as operational emissions, environmental performance and the quality of the mobility of participants. Through homogeneous indicators it becomes possible to compare different events, identify areas with greater margin of improvement and verify over time the effectiveness of the solutions adopted.
During the day the exhibition “SCART – The beautiful and useful side of the refusal”, promoted by the Hera Group was inaugurated. The exhibition, made with materials from industrial and technological sectors, saw the creation of sculptures depicting dolphins, whales, sharks, octopus and seahorses. The preparation of the marina Cala dei Sardi has given a concrete dimension to the circular economy, showing how the recovery of materials can become an environmental communication tool.
From unused materials to environmental sculptures
The exhibition also underlined the importance of recovering and reusing materials, with a focus on how art can become a means to educate and raise awareness about sustainability. The SCART path, which began almost thirty years ago, transforms waste materials into works of art, demonstrating how recovery can become a form of environmental communication. The marina Cala dei Sardi develops in the Gulf of Cugnana, in a landscape in which the infrastructures are integrated into the green and the solutions adopted for the piers take into account the natural movement of the currents. An approach that focuses the relationship between nautical activity and coastal ecosystem. The circular economy also passes through art, with sculptures that represent marine biodiversity.
The Gallura stage confirms one of the most interesting directions for the future of the tourist portualità: do not limit itself to reducing the impact of the individual structures, but build systems in which energy, mobility, resource management, biodiversity and services are evaluated according to verifiable parameters. The Blue Marina Awards 2026 will continue on 9 October in Porto Cervo, before the national ceremony of 21 October in Rome.