Cultivating Green Skills in Maritime Sector

Maritime sector is a vital sector for the EU economy. It directly employs over 640,000 workers and indirectly supports over 1.4 million workers for a total share of €147 billion in the EU's GDP. ...

IMAT and partners aimed to introduce a holistic methodology to match VET Education and Maritime/Shipping Industry needs and to respond directly to the existing gap in green skills in the maritime/shipping sector aspiring to define innovative training programs and promoting the adoption of sustainable practices for shipowners. To this aim innovative Curriculum’s ultimate goal aimed to reverse the mindsets of the whole industry on green skills by providing upskilling/reskilling opportunities for the identified target groups. In detail, we wanted to provide training materials responding to the different learning needs; encourage the introduction of a Curriculum on green skills; support maritime VET actors to update their skillset and transfer their knowledge; offer upskilling/reskilling opportunities; support shipowners/companies by addressing the lack of required green skillset; offer a practical tools to shipping companies towards green transition; introduce a bottom-up approach in decision-making to foster policy dialogue on green transition; by engaging key stakeholders of the sector.

The Consortium agreed to implement the following activities for the success of project objectives. Under PR1 activities, we analyzed the current situation in the maritime sector in terms of green skills and development (A1) in order to identify skill gaps and develop a new Green Skills Chart to identify and address any discrepancies between the current level of green skills in the sector and the emerging requirements of the industry. How? In-depth interviews/focus groups with maritime/shipping experts and VET teachers/trainers have been organized for an accurate analysis of the current situation in the Maritime Sector and green developments. Based on the results analysis we proposed a revised skillset on green skills to be incorporated in the existing knowledge through a Development of a New Skills Chart (A2) with specific learning objectives and outcomes (A3) to finalize the Curriculum outline (A4). Based on PR1 results and Curriculum New Skills Chart, under PR2 the Consortium has developed training materials in the form of O.E.Rs for 3 Target Groups: • VET institutes about sustainable practices on-board and on-shore and innovative methodologies to be incorporated (A1); • employees (A2) and shipowners(A3) The development of the training material has fully engaged all partners that thanks to their expertise and background have accurately developed the training content that requested an attentive and huge collaborative work. IMAT has then provided to develop an interactive and well structured platform where to upload the training course in different languages. Participants to the course have been successfully engaged per target audience and a continuous monitoring of the training activities and assistance has been ensured during the whole duration of the activity ensuring satisfaction level of the participants from the different engaged countries. Lastly conducted the Joint Staff Training Activity that will be described in the following paragraphs (A4). In terms of PR3, the consortium after an attentive and accurate analysis defined the criteria to design the Green Label (A1); and developed a Guide on how to acquire a Green Label including detailed criteria and requirements (A2). The consortium has for long discussed and analized on how to develop and design the Green Label Registry based on the addressed target of shipowners with the scope to conceive this tool useful to assess and promote sustainable shipping practices on board (A3). To this aim it has been elaborated with the strong support of all partners and submitted a self-assessment questionnaire with specific technicalities to gather information about the shipowner green practices, such as maritime activity, type of ship, geographic area of operation and measure their level of engagement in green practices (A4). A dedicated methodology has been designed to reach shipowners at country level and sensitize them to pilot the Green Label Registry Tool. The Consortium agreed to displayed not individual information but aggregated data to describe the results obtained and green practices mostly adopoted by the shipowners directly linked to the project’s website (PR3/A3). Lastly, under PR4 that represent the last stage of the project, a series of workshops and roundtables have been conducted at national and eu level to co-shape the contents of the Policy Recommendations (A1); this approach has been ensured by a multilevel dialogue among shipping companies, authorities and other stakeholders to discuss a greener future and collect feedback (A2). All inputs and insights collected have contributed to the development of Recommendations for the future (A3). All these tasks under PR1, PR2, PR3 and PR4 were only possible with an efficient and smooth cooperation and collaboration among the partners. Thanks to the continuous communication among the consortium through for instance the organization of online and in-presence transnational project meetings, regular monthly meetings, bilateral discussion. TPMs and regular monthly virtual meetings have been organized for a better management of the activities, while Multiplier Event (4 in total) and external events organized allowed an efficient dissemination and promotion of the project’s results and visibility.

Overall, the Up-Sailing project achieved the following concrete outputs: 1. An online Up-Sailing TRAINING PROGRAMME which covered the learning needs of three different target groups; VET providers, current employees and shipowners in 4 different languages (Italian, Greek, Portugues, English) 2. An online TRAINING PLATFORM of OERs for upskilling and reskilling professionals of the sector. The platform is accessible from all around Europe and from different devices (PC, mobile phone etc). 3. The online self-assessment questionnaire and green laber guide to support maritime actors, namely shipowners in adopting sustainable practices. The green label piloting tool aims to facilitate a gradual green transition of the target. 4. A Set of RECOMMENDATIONS drafted on the basis of project’s actors’ experience and lessons learnt to foster policy dialogue towards a meaningful green transformation of the shipping/maritime industry in the future. Other concrete results have been fully achieved. Up-Sailing has reached a deeper impact on a high number of beneficiaries, stakeholders, organizations and communities raising awareness on cutting-edge technologies in the maritime/shipping sector and respective upskilling/re-skilling opportunities. Moreover, Up-Sailing had a pioneering role in enhancing VET Maritime Studies to a greener and more sustainable future. The project also enhanced the strong commitment from shipping companies to adopt sustainable practices and contribute to the industry's environmental transition. Similarly, it concurred to the establishment of collaborative partnerships among different stakeholders towards a common goal. Lastly, it renewed enthusiasm and interest in projects on maritime sustainability and innovation across Europe enhancing the attractiveness of the shipping sector.