The European Commission has selected six ’blue career’ and four ’blue labs’ projects for funding under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). Grant agreements are being prepared for signature.
The new ’blue career’ projects will work towards enhancing career opportunities in the maritime economy, while the ’blue labs’ projects will focus on young researchers helping them to bring research results to the market.
A budget of EUR 3.45 million (blue careers) and EUR 1.7 million (blue labs) is available. Project proposals submitted for the ’blue technology’ call are still being evaluated.
The Executive Agency for SMEs (EASME) is managing the selection and follow-up of the projects funded under the EMFF on behalf of the European Commission.
Blue careers projects shortlisted for funding
| Project | Short description | Countries |
|---|---|---|
| BBMBC: A Blue Biotechnology Master for a Blue Career | BBMBC will launch an Applied Blue Biotechnology Master II. The Master course will be co-designed with industry and focused on blue biotechnologies. It will provide knowledge and skills for jobs in the health, nutrition and aquaculture domains and will include strong elements of work-based training. The Master will be accessible to workers through lifelong learning schemes and mentoring opportunities. | France, Spain, United Kingdom and Portugal |
| ASSESS: Advanced skills in safety, environment and security at sea | ASSESS is an education and training project focused on professional profiles specialised in safety and security for ships and off-shore structures. The three main concerns are: safety and security for ships and off-shore infrastructures, for people (human life at sea) and for the environment. The project will address both higher education and vocational training. | Italy |
| BLUE SMART: Blue education for sustainable management of aquatic resources | BLUE SMART will support the development of new skills and competences in both higher education (by designing a Master study programme) and vocational education for the sustainable management of aquatic resources in the Zadar county in Croatia. | Croatia |
| ENTREFISH: Sustainable entrepreneurship for stronger skills and new employment | The Entrefish project will provide entrepreneurs and workers in SMEs in the field of aquaculture and fisheries with new or strengthened managerial skills to support their entrepreneurial activity in a sustainable way. It will also attract young people (graduates or unemployed persons) with professional skills in sustainable management and business development in SMEs in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. | Italy and France |
| CETBC: Cooperation in education and training for blue careers | CETBC will provide education and training for blue careers by applying the concept of ”hybrid working” in order to train current workers of the Dutch maritime cluster to become teachers. This will allow them to equip students with the latest knowledge and acquire the skills needed in the labour market. The project will also develop an apprenticeship desk to address the shortage of apprenticeship places in the maritime sector in the Netherlands. | Netherlands |
| MENTOR: Blue Care7er Centre of Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea | MENTOR will set up a Blue Career Centre of the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea. The centre will offer young people and experienced workers guidance and training to fill skills gaps and increase their employability in key Blue Economy sectors in the region: maritime transport (shipping, ports, ship-repairs and shipbuilding), cruise and nautical tourism, aquaculture and offshore oil and gas. | Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria and Romania |
Blue labs projects shortlisted for funding
| Project | Short description | Countries |
|---|---|---|
| ARCHEOSUb: Autonomous underwater robotic and sensing systems for cultural Heritage discovery conservation and in situ valorisation | ARCHEOSUB will develop a full set of products and services for the discovery, surveying, protection and valorisation of Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) sites. This will be done by developing an underwater sensor network as well as low-cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). | Italy |
| SpilLess: First line response to oil spills based on native microorganisms cooperation | SpilLess will develop new and viable solutions to tackle oil spills. The solutions will be environmentally friendly as they will use native organisms with bioremediation capacity and devices for the application of bioremediation treatments. These will be unmanned and autonomous vehicles that can act as first line responders to pollution incidents. | Portugal, Spain and Norway |
| AMALIA: Algae-to-Market Lab Ideas – Adding value to marine invasive seaweeds of the Iberian northwest | AMALIA will develop new products and services to address invasive seaweed species in the Iberian North West Coast. It will produce bioactive products from invasive seaweed with applications in feed (aquaculture) and food (new/novel products), as well as develop a monitoring sensor for invasive species. | Portugal, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands |
| LitterDrone: Development and exploitation of innovative tools for remote marine litter control and management through UAVs | LitterDrone will develop an innovative service for the monitoring and management of marine litter at the coastline, by using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), popularly known as ”drones”. | Spain |
Please note that the disclosure of these shortlisted projects does not constitute a commitment for funding on the part of EASME until the grant agreements will be signed.
