In response to the ever changing economical and societal climate of the Blue Economy, the University of Ghent (UGent), Belgium, and the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Ireland, have collaborated to produce a new short course: “Emerging issues in the Blue Economy”. This 5-day training (taking place from the 10th until the 14th of January 2022) provides an overview of all the sectors within the Blue Economy and will focus on their current status and challenges, as well as their potential for growth and innovation.
The Blue Economy encompasses all economic activities that depend on the sea, such as coastal tourism and fishing. The evolving society and its technologies have also given rise to some new marine and maritime industries, such as deep sea mining and renewable offshore energy. The current economical and societal climate, however, presents some immediate and long-term challenges to which both traditional as well as newly emerging sectors have to respond. These challenges aren’t necessarily hurdles. Instead, they can present considerable opportunities for evolution and thus growth.
In order to be able to cope with these challenges, the new short course, created by the University of Ghent and GMIT, now provides an overview of all the traditional and newly emerging marine and maritime sectors within the Blue Economy. Hereby focusing on their current status, challenges and – more importantly – their accompanying opportunities and perspectives. This course, as such, aims to provide its participants with the necessary knowledge and tools to act upon these challenges.
From engineers to people with a financial or legal background, this new course is aimed at very diverse profiles. Everyone who has obtained a Master’s degree and is active in the Blue Economy or interested in pursuing a career in the Blue Economy can apply.
During this short course we introduce some introductory and academic concepts to the Blue Economy and focus on traditional and newly emerging marine and maritime sectors. An introduction to these sectors will be given with additional focus on the current bottlenecks and possible opportunities and prospects. The physical week is concluded with an excursion day as we visit several sites in Ostend relevant to the marine and maritime industry. Next to the week spent physically in Bluebridge, applicants will also have the opportunity to put their newly obtained knowledge to the test and perform a digital group project.
The course will take place from the 10th until the 14th of January 2022 in Bluebridge in Ostend, Belgium. The main language used will be English. Sandwich lunches, coffee/water, and an opening reception are included in the registration fee. Deadline for registration is the 20th of December 2021.
More information or registration via http://academy.marineatugent.be/emergingissues.
