ABOUT BLUE ECONOMY (JOBS, EMPLOYMENT)
The “Blue” in “Blue Economy” stands for the seas and oceans. As a vital component of Europe’s coastal economies, oceans can also contribute to our continent’s overall prosperity. They can produce investment, jobs and economic growth. The Blue Economy includes economic activities that are:
- Marine based such as capture fisheries and aquaculture, offshore oil and gas, offshore wind energy, ocean energy, desalination, shipping, maritime transport and coastal tourism
- Marine related such as seafood processing, marine biotechnology, shipbuilding and repair, port activities, communication, equipment, maritime insurance and maritime surveillance
- It also includes those parts of the public sector with coastal and ocean responsibilities such as national defence, coast guard, environmental protection as well as marine education and research
ABOUT YOUTH (YOUTH EMPLOYMENT)
The European Blue Economy, currently representing around 5.4 million jobs, is set to double its employment by 2030. Its problem is, that young people are not being attracted to maritime careers and businesses cannot find the required workforce, skills and profiles. At the same time, the EU has up to 14 million young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) between 15 and 29 years and millions more who are at risk of becoming NEETs through early school dropout, difficulties in entering the labour market or personal problems.
ABOUT THE BLUE GENERATION PROJECT
The objective of the Blue Generation Project is to inspire and engage these youth between 15 and 29 years to pursue a sustainable career in one of the Blue Economy growth areas: coastal tourism, aquaculture, ocean energy, marine biotechnology, ship building & maintenance, fisheries and maritime transport.
The Blue Generation Project brings together experts from the Blue Economy and youth organisations to share knowledge about skills needs, career paths, open job positions and existing training.
It will develop the Blue Generation Program that trains youth workers to become knowledgeable promoters and mentors, promotes Blue Career opportunities among youth through promotional activities in high schools, adult education centre, NGOs, unemployment services and local associations and guides interested youth through skills validation, personal mentoring and short exchanges to suitable employment and training in the Blue Economy, produces a MOOC, a Blue Career Guide and a Blue Career Job Platform.
The Blue Generation Project runs over 4 years (from June 2018 to August 2022) and will repeat the Blue Generation Program in 4 cycles to constantly improve and firmly establish it in all partner countries. To facilitate the transferability of the program to other organisations, countries or contexts, the project will develop a BluePrint Guide and organise two International Conferences to inform all interested stakeholders.
Towards the end of the project the partners will set up a Federation that will take over ownership of all project outputs and ensure the continuation, expansion and lasting effect of the projects’ achievements.
MORE ABOUT THE BLUE GENERATION PROJECT