AquaTT

Maritime Experts Invited to Identify Education and Training Needs

MATES, a four-year European Union funded Erasmus+ project coordinated by the Spanish foundation CETMAR, has recently kicked off its series of maritime-focused workshops in Athens. The Ocean Literacy themed workshop took place on 26 April and was coordinated by Indigo Med. The MATES project consortium is now pleased to announce a further four workshops will take place across Europe. The workshops will focus on how the evolution of the maritime sector is being influenced by technological advancements and labour market needs, in particular the need for new skills and new ways of delivering training and education.

The aim is to bring maritime experts together to create a forum for dynamic discussion, to help identify future activities required to meet these needs in the short, medium and long term. The upcoming workshops include:
- An ocean of new professional opportunities for a competitive economy for the Sea of the Azores, 4 May, Casa Manuel de Arriaga, Horta, Azores, Portugal. Workshop contact: maria.LP.Martin@azores.gov.pt
- Future skills needs and gaps in Green Technologies for the Shipbuilding and Offshore Renewable energy sectors, 9 May, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Workshop contact: george.smyrnakis@ncl.ac.uk
- Technological Trends in the Shipbuilding and Offshore Energies. Analysis and Implementation Strategies, 21 May, Vigo, Spain. Workshop contact: pablo.fidalgo@asime.es
- Identification and analysis of skills gaps in the offshore energy sector, 17 May, DoubleTree by Hilton, Aberdeen City Centre, Scotland. Workshop contact: jennifer.fox@aquatera.co.uk

Industry experts in various fields will be invited to speak and the workshops will provide opportunities for networking. The MATES consortium welcomes professionals from a range of backgrounds to attend the workshops; in particular from the offshore renewable energy and shipbuilding sectors, education and training, scientific community, and representatives from companies and public administration. Further information can be obtained from the various workshop contacts.

The outcomes of the workshops will feed into to a long-term strategy which will be developed by MATES, which aims at tackling the skill shortages in the maritime sectors of offshore renewable energy and shipbuilding, and in doing so, contributing to a more resilient labour market. Further information on the project and activities will be available soon at: www.projectmates.eu.