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Description
Portugal, like other European countries, seeks to fill the gaps of Ocean Literacy in society, particularly amongst young students, by promoting actions enhancing national sea literacy.
This project aims to increase awareness to the different sectors of the blue economy, also transmitting a vison of (their) future “blue careers”. The project also aims to stimulate interest in blue careers, including blue entrepreneurship, highlighting job and business opportunities, namely those related to blue growth. The project is targeted at secondary school students, namely in the 12th grade, at a stage of decisive choice of their vocations.
For these purposes the team of the project integrates:
- The Fórum Oceano, is the association gathering all relevant companies related to Blue Economy in Portugal, able to give a close insight on “the real market”;
- The Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (FCUL), developed Mare Startup, an initiative with large experience promoting blue entrepreneurship and the FCUL pole of Mare Centre, has large and comprehensive experience, at various levels of education, with the “O Mar vai à Escola” sensitizing program.
- The GCE Ocean Technology, Norwegian partner, will display a panoply of new techniques and technologies, originated from cutting edge science, which will stimulate students for innovation.
- The Colégio Valsassina, one of the Blue Schools in Lisbon, is a Portuguese private independent school with a total of 1300 students, aged from three to eighteen.
The final goal is to create in young people a proactive attitude and behavior facing the Oceans and its sustainable uses, as well as to the opportunities and challenges in (their) professional future.
The project will focus key sectors in Blue Growth: i) aquaculture and the fish industry; ii) blue biotechnology; iii) maritime technology; iv) water sports; v) marine environment, sustainability and biodiversity and vi) social sciences (public policies, economy and law).
Summary of project results
This project, focused on dissemination and training for blue jobs and entrepreneurship, aims, in the medium term, to increase the entry of young people into blue careers. Whether your future choice is for existing professions or for the identification of new professional activities, the development of new products, services and companies, the project helps to sensitize the new generation to create added value or generate self-work. Developed in the context of a partnership with a secondary school (Colégio Valsassina, in the context of "blue schools"), the project aims to highlight the main problems of the Ocean and challenges young people to present innovative ideas to respond to these problems. The program was also designed to develop a participatory and coconstructive format, where the appropriation by students of the concepts and solutions to the challenges launched, is the basis for decision-making by young people, consistent with the content presented, encompassed in a curricular context and accompanied by school teachers and tutors from other team partners.
The project was organized into 3 phases: (1) preparation and mobilization, (2) implementation, (3) evaluation and systematization of results, organized as follows: Phase (1) preparation and mobilization as stated in the mobilizationof of the team, the detailed planning of activities and logistics organization, as well as the preparation of specific content for each module and for the entrepreneurship and teacher training project. In a project with the level of multidisciplinarity and involvement of different actors, this phase was essential for the implementation of the program to have taken place without instability and has achieved its objectives. Phase (2) implementation covers the implementation of the awareness and training program "The Ocean of [My] future", including: i) class sessions; ii) field visits and III) entrepreneurship project. This phase also included the implementation of the monitoring and quality assessment mechanisms. This was the nuclear phase of the project "The Ocean of [my] future", which represented the implementation of the methodology of the pilot program developed, making the project demonstrative, and allowing to validate the methodological model in a real case study. Phase (3) of evaluation and systematization of results included participatory evaluation and systematization of results and learning of classes.
The project aimed to contribute to the increase of the levels of Oceanic Literacy in the school environment, having involved 80 students and 10 tutors (secondary school teachers), reinforcing their competencies in Ocean Literacy. This project has strengthened the relationship of young people with the challenges of the Ocean, from sustainability to the use of new technologies in the context of the Blue Economy, but also to raise awareness of the role that each individual can play in the future of the Ocean.
Summary of bilateral results
By including Norwegian partner GCE Ocean Technology, selected for its technological know-how, technology transfer capability and blue entrepreneurship, new ''blue career opportunities'' were also highlighted; in addition, it has contributed to broadening the horizons of internationalization, adding value to the project.Regarding new opportunities for ocean discovery and monitoring, the project benefited from the partnership with GCE Ocean Technology, which shared its extensive experience in technological innovation for renewable marine energy, robotics for deep-sea mining and exploration and monitoring of the sea.The Norwegian partner GCE Ocean Technology, also presented a set of new techniques and technologies, originated from cutting-edge science, that fascinated the present, definitely contributing to stimulate students for innovation. This partnership has also contributed to strong links between education, training and cooperation on marine and maritime issues, including greater collaboration between Portugal and Norway through their partners.