Registration now open! Sargassum Mission to Cancún, Mexico – April 6 – 11th 2025

Do you work for a company, organization, NGO, or knowledge institute in the Netherlands and/or the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom, and are you interested in sargassum? Then join us on a mission to Mexico!

Beeld: Aldward Castillo

The massive arrival of sargassum on the coasts of the Mexican Caribbean has generated an environmental and socioeconomic crisis. Both the government and businesses in Mexico are working hard on solutions for the enormous amounts of sargassum that wash up on the shores of Mexico every year. Sargassum damages coral reefs and coastal ecosystems, and the hotel sector spends around 120 million euros annually to clear sargassum from the beaches. Once sargassum has reached the shore, it is almost impossible to reuse. This needs to change!

With the Mexican government’s intention to build an industrial park for the valorization of sargassum, planned legislative changes to allow the "fishing" of sargassum at sea, and a hotel sector that wants to invest in solutions, we see opportunities for Dutch entrepreneurs and knowledge institutes. Therefore, we are organizing a mission to Cancun, Mexico, from April 7-11th 2025.

For whom?

We particularly invite companies specialized in, but the invitation is not limited to:  

  • Collection at open sea and logistics: It is essential to scale cutting-edge technologies that can capture sargassum before it reaches the beaches.
  • Valorization: We seek companies that can transform this biomass into high-value products such as biofuels, fertilizers, or construction materials.
  • Monitoring and prediction: Advanced monitoring and prediction systems are needed to anticipate sargassum movements and take preventive measures more effectively.

Tentative Program

Date

Activity

Sunday April 6th 
  • Arrival and Reception in Cancun
Monday April 7th 
  • Welcome Breakfast and debriefing
  • Program with Mexican Government, Quintana Roo Government, businesses and knowledge institutions. 
  • Reception
Tuesday April 8th 
  • Field visist to the Government's research ship
  • Field visit to collection and processing facilities of Sargassum 
Wednesday April 9th
  • Deep dives into: 
    • Monitoring 
    • Collection at sea & transport
      • Valorization: biogas, biofuel, fertilizers, construction materials, cosmetics, etc. 
    • Environmental impact
    • Legislation 
    • Finance
    • Matchmaking 
Thursday April 10th 
  • Site visits: 
    • Collection at sea
    • Valorization 
    • Research monitoring & ecosystems
  • Facilitation in building business cases & consortia 
  • Closing Dinner 
Friday April 11th 
  • Departure from Cancún 

Costs and registration 

The cost of participating in the mission is of €350 (excluding VAT) per person. The cost includes:

  • Transfers to and from the program appointments
  • Lunch and dinners if mentioned in the program.
  • Field visits reflected in the program
  • Network events
  • Matchmaking
  • Preparational meetings before the mission
  • Access to relevant studies and background information

The participation fee does not include:

  • Travel (intercontinental and domestic flights)
  • Accommodation (approximately  €230 –  €250 per night)
  • All individual costs

Interested Dutch companies and organizations can register in the following form: bit.ly/SGMX2025. The deadline for registrations is February 7th.