Blue skills and careers for the European Green Deal

Organized by: Ecomondo STC & Italian Ministry of Education, European Commission                                     

The green and digital transition is already opening up to new opportunities in the blue economy’s job market. However, the lack of well-trained professionals and highly-skilled personnel working in sectors, including offshore marine renewable energies, shipping, underwater operations, biotechnologies and aquaculture, and limited public perception of blue careers, can hinder the sustainable blue economy to contribute to the objectives of the green deal and of a circular economy. To fully exploit its potential, there is a need of creating an ecosystem for blue skills able to improve or put in place, where it is not existing, an effective cooperation amongst stakeholders, matching the needs of the industries and attracting women and new generations in this labour market. 

The Blue Careers programme, which since 2016 has provided grants, under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), to retrain and reskill the blue economy sectors, will now expand to cover the training needs stemming from the European Green Deal and the pandemic crisis. The key objectives will also encompass the development of core green skills and boosting digital skills. This includes promoting the use of the GreenComp, a European reference framework for sustainability competences.

Session Chair

Luca Marangoni, Deputy Head of Unit, European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency - CINEA Unit D3 – Sustainable Blue Economy, European Commission
Silvia Grandi, Director General, Ministry of Ecological Transition, Italy

Programme

10.45-11.15 Registrations

11.15-11.30 EU support to the development of Blue Careers
Luca Marangoni, Deputy Head of Unit CINEA Unit D3 - Sustainable Blue Economy, European Commission

11.30-11.40 Blue Skills and Careers: the Italian experience
Dott. Ing. Stefano Versari, Italian Ministry of Education

11.40-11.50 The GreenComp framework
Guia Bianchi, Joint Research Centre (JRC-Seville), Unit B7 - Knowledge for Finance, Innovation and Growth, European Commission

11.50-12.00 A Mediterranean perspective for new skills and jobs
Flavia Rolli, Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS)

12.00–12.10 Q&As

12.10-13.10 Panel discussion (best practices, lessons learnt, bottlenecks, opportunities)
Chair: Silvia Grandi, Director General, Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition
Panelists:
Raphaela Gutty, Cluster MARE FVG (ASSESS project)
Lucie Saxton, STC Group (TEAMS project)
Jerneja Penca, Euro-Mediterranean University (COE-SUBE - Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Blue Economy)
Federica Bruni, Network and Development Coordinator - businessmed-umce