How partners of the On The Wave celebrated the Portuguese National Day of the Sea on the 16th of November 2023!

How partners of the On The Wave celebrated the Portuguese National Day of the Sea on the 16^th of November 2023!

On the 16^th of November of 2023, the consortium of the project celebrated the Portuguese National Day of the Sea with the closing event of the project!

The conference counted 61 representatives from policymakers, companies and training providers of the maritime sector as well as professionals and experts acting in the sector that jointly exchanged perspectives on the following:

Contribution of the project to the innovation and overcome the challenges of the maritime sector and economy of the sea

Path made by the consortium to build tailored training offers aligned with organisations’ needs and trends of the sector, combining different experiences and expertise
Policy arrangements and accomplishments done to contribute to the approval of the training designed by the National policymakers as an official offer for seafarers
Legacy of the project and its impact on organisations and countries involved

The Director from FOR-MAR, Pedro Nogueira set the framework of the project’s event giving the word to the Portuguese Secretary of State for the Sea, José Maria Costa and the Portuguese Secretary of State for Fishing, Teresa Coelho as representatives of the two sub-sectors covered by the project: Economy of the Sea and Fisheries. The two interventions highlighted the relevance of the project in strengthening cooperation partnerships to enhance innovation and reinforce the qualifications of the sectors and their alignment with the National and European policies towards the mission to restore oceans and waters.

The event proceeded with the interventions from Maria Mineiro Coordinator of the National Management Unit of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism (UNG-EEAFM) and Marisa Lameiras da Silva Director General for Maritime Policy (DGPM). The focus of each presentation was on the overview of the EEA grants and of the Blue Growth Programme, respectively, in terms of objectives, expectations and results achieved until now. The contribution of On The Wave to the success of the EEA Grants and the accomplishment of the Blue Growth joint objectives were also mentioned.

The third part of the conference was dedicated to presenting the path and results achieved by the consortium during the 27 months of the project. It started with an overview of the activities done by the consortium, made by Andreia Monteiro from INOVA+ and proceeded with the presentation of the training offer structured by the training providers of the consortium. Mariana Canaveira from FOR-MAR briefly presented the process of designing the six short-duration training units to reinforce the digital green and communication skills of seafarers, providing a characterization of the competences and training plan of each unit. A video with testimonies from trainers and trainees involved in the implementation of these units was also presented during the conference, valuing the relevance and impact of the project in its target groups

Three STCW courses were also presented by Pedro Pimenta from FOR-MAR, courses that were jointly developed by For-Mar and Simsea and involving external experts and professionals in the process of analysis, development and validation of the courses. As a result of the implementation of four of the six short-duration training units, the consortium proceeded with the collection of questionnaires from training organisations, trainers and trainees to better measure the relevance, quality and impact of the units in the reinforcement of professionals’ competences and professional performance. The collection and analysis of data was done with the support of Simsea and the results were presented in the conference by Diarry Heimdal from Simsea.

The two last interventions were done by representatives from policymakers acting in the qualification of seafarers and professionals of the Economy of the Sea. Bernardo Santos e Sousa, Vice President of Employment and Professional Training Institute (IEFP) talked about the initial and continuous training as one of the priorities of the European pillars of social rights, mentioning the challenges and principles of the qualification and training of professionals and identifying the new qualifications for the maritime sector. José Simão, General-Director of the Directorate-General for Natural Resources, Safety and Maritime Services (DGRM) reflected on the needs and challenges of the Blue Economy in Portugal, highlighting the value of the human factor to answer to the greatest trends of the sector for a more digital, greener and global economy.

The event was closed by Hanne Brusletto Norwegian Ambassador in Portugal, who in her first speech in Portuguese, recognized the value of the EEA Grants for the bilateral cooperation between Portugal and Norwegian and the contribution of the project in honouring this lasting cooperation.

A cocktail was served by Docapesca, during which the multiple participants had the opportunity to network and discuss further opportunities for cooperation.

The “Wave of Innovation!” conference was a success and during the event, the consortium had the opportunity to:

Recognise the importance of the EEA Grants (here) and Blue Growth Programme (here) to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Portugal and Norway for the high- qualification of seafarers and professionals of the Economy of the Sea from the two countries

Introduce the training offer designed and provided by the consortium, including 6 short-duration training units to reinforce digital, green and communication skills (here) and the 3 STCW courses for the qualification of seafarers (here)

Present the activities promoted by the consortium and the project’s contribution to the accomplishment of the Blue Growth programme objectives (here)

Share the results of the implementation of the short-duration training units in Portugal, by presenting testimonies from trainers and trainees (here) and the results from the evaluation (here)

Promote a joint reflection on the challenge and value of Portugal’s investment in the qualification of seafarers and professionals of the Economy of the Sea, made by Bernardo Santos e Sousa, Vice President of IEFP (here) and José Simão, General-Director from DGRM (here)