Interreg Euro-MED Academy: #05

#05_ Fostering and managing blue growth potential in the Mediterranean

COURSE OVERVIEW

The Learning Program “Fostering and Managing Blue Growth Potential in the Mediterranean” is offering the opportunity to gain fundamental theoretical knowledge on the main thematic areas of blue economy and to explore best practices, tools and achievements through the valuable experience gained within the Interreg MED Communities, mainly within the Blue Growth Community.

The Learning Program’s structure is based upon: pre-recorded video lectures, supportive material for studying, short assessment tests, a final test, an essay (optional), a live webinar and a final event. A dedicated forum will be also available during the whole educational period for exchanges between participants and experts in the field of Blue Growth. Upon the completion of all mandatory activities, the participants will receive a certificate.

The participants can keep their own “pace”, but the most manageable way would be to dedicate 2 days per week (around 3 hours/week) to complete this Learning Program in a comfortable and balanced way.

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>> Course available from 16th May to 28th September 2022 <<

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Course main features

“Fostering and Managing Blue Growth Potential in the Mediterranean” is an online learning program providing its participants/students with the possibility to explore the valuable experience gained within the Interreg MED Communities, and mainly within the Blue Growth Community, on all aspects of the blue economy sector. For this purpose, pre-recorded lectures, available reading and digital material, an exercise, a live webinar and a final event, will be used. A dedicated forum will also be available during the whole educational period for the participants/students to exchange between them, as well as with experts in the field of Blue Growth.

The Learning Programme is built upon ten short modules, in the following thematic areas:

Potential of Blue Economy in the Mediterranean
Marine Renewable Energy (1st part)
Marine Renewable Energy (2nd part)
Sustainable Tourism
Greening the Ports
Fisheries & Aquaculture
Unlocking the potential of blue bioeconomy through biotechnologies
Maritime Security & Maritime Surveillance
Maritime Spatial Planning
How to reconcile blue economy and marine environmental protection

The modules will be available simultaneously. They are structured in order to be completed in a 5 weeks period.

The participants/students can keep their own “pace” but the most manageable way would be to dedicate 2 days per week (around 3 hours/week) in order to complete this Learning Programme in a comfortable and balanced way.

The Programme is built on a total of 15h of participants’/students’ engagement: around 7,5h of pre-recorded lectures, plus assessment tests, supplementary material (documents, videos, links), a final test and an essay. One live webinar will be also organized in the context of the Programme with invited speakers, in order to raise discussions on the topics addressed and present specific case studies and blue economy tools offered by the projects of the Interreg MED Blue Growth Community. A final event will be organized at the end of the Learning Programme. This event will include some key-note speeches and presentations of the participants’/students’ assignments (a pre-selection will be made).

Oceans and Seas make Earth habitable. The vast growth potential offered by the seas is still an unmapped field for many people. Ocean Literacy and Blue Skills are among the top priorities at the European level. Moreover, the creation of a climate and ocean-literate society is the fundamental element for the sustainable exploitation of the resources given by the sea.

Through this Learning Programme, the participants/students will be trained on all aspects of Blue Growth and will acquire knowledge on emerging practices in the sector. One of the benefits of the Programme is that it offers a global coverage of all the thematic areas of Blue Economy, while it is built upon the unique experience gained within the Interreg MED Communities, going beyond the theoretical curricula to be found in other online courses.

This free Learning Programme is addressed to the “Next Generation Mediterranean Leaders” with different backgrounds on Blue Growth, offering flexibility and adopting an intermediate level of required commitment. The assessment process includes mainly easily completed short self-assessment tests after each module and a final assignment, which includes a final test and an easy-going exercise (essay). Moreover, there will be interaction with students through the dedicated forum.

This Learning Programme is addressed to the “Next Generation Mediterranean Leaders of Inclusive and Sustainable Development” both from the northern and southern shore. We are targeting a multi-variance audience having a direct relation to the Blue Growth sector, but also people/stakeholders who want to make a first complete acquaintance with the Blue Economy in the Mediterranean region.

More specifically, the Learning Programme is offered, not exclusively, to:

● Employees in public administration

This target group are young people involved in the blue economy governance, aiming to obtain key positions in the near future. They are invited to attend the Learning Programme in order to learn the new trends in the blue growth sector, to encompass blue growth challenges in their strategies and to ‘select’ the right paths for reaching blue sustainability. Many of them are not specialists in all the fields that the Learning Programme will address and need a short but effective training in the emerging issues of blue growth.

Blue Economy entrepreneurs/practitioners

This target group are young employees already involved in one or more of the blue economy sectors. They are working in business support organizations, NGOs, research institutions, etc. They are willing to learn more about the challenges and new trends in the blue growth sector, as well as the initiatives that are ongoing in the Mediterranean area.

Upon completion of the Learning Programme, the participants will acquire knowledge on:

● The thematic areas of blue economy, the current growth and the emerging priorities in the Mediterranean, as well as the different existing scenarios and principles regarding a sustainable and “greener” blue economy

● The role of transnational cooperation and the need of interactions between all blue economy sectors, taking into consideration the marine environment and its protection

● The development perspectives in the blue economy sector

● The marine renewable energy sources’ potential and flagship technologies for energy production

● The marine renewable energy challenges and constraints (regulatory, techno-economic)

● The current challenges for sustainable tourism

● Sustainable business models to reduce environmental and social impacts in the tourism sector

● Practices for greening the Mediterranean ports and marinas

● The existing and emerging sustainable practices for fisheries and aquaculture

● The exploitation of marine bio-resources through biotechnological solutions

● Circular bioeconomy practices

● Maritime security and surveillance policies

● The Maritime Spatial Planning ecosystem, its objectives and involved actors

● The need to frame land-uses in the sea

Moreover, the participants will have the opportunity to meet many experts of the Blue Growth sector, as well as listen to and read valuable information about projects’ outputs, experiences and lessons learned.

The core of the learning experience are pre-recorded lectures/videos that are easy to follow and to digest. The lectures/videos will include presentations from experts in the various sectors of the blue economy. The lecturers will be experts/members of the Blue Growth Community or other Interreg MED Communities, presenting their expertise on the thematic areas addressed or/and focusing on pilot cases implemented in the context of Interreg MED projects.

Each of the ten modules is split into three (3) lessons. Each lesson includes a short summary with key points, a pre-recorded video lecture of 15 minutes and supplementary material for reading. Each lesson is followed by a 2-3 minutes self-assessment test with multiple choice questions. Within each module there will be a section gathering the Interreg MED Communities’ experience on blue economy.

After the completion of all modules, you will have to choose between an overall 30 minutes final test or a 2-3 pages exercise/essay.

The participants will have the possibility, throughout the Learning Programme, to use an open forum in order to interact with each other and the facilitators/experts of the Programme, ask questions on the lessons and get relevant feedback.

The webinar will showcase some of the tools/methodologies produced within the Interreg MED projects that could potentially be adapted and used in several Mediterranean countries/regions/local communities.

The final event will include key-note speeches and will give the floor to participants/students to present their assigned exercise/essay (a pre-selection will be made).

The evaluation will be constant and encourage the engagement of participants, ensuring an understanding of the main topics, and seeking to steer critical opinions.

Evaluation will be implemented in two different moments of the learning experience:

Brief tests at the end of every module to ensure the understanding of concepts presented during the lessons. You will have succeeded in the test if you have replied correctly to 9 out of 12 questions.
One final assignment where participants will be asked to express their personal point of view, gathering the knowledge obtained during the course.
One final test including questions from all the modules (#1 to #9). You will have succeeded in the test if you have replied correctly to 50% of the questions.

The final certificate will be delivered only if the following requirements are met:
- 8 out of 10 modules are fully completed, and
- receive a passing grade to the final test or/and submit the exercise/essay

The course will be delivered by a mixed educational team, which will provide guidance and assistance to participants through all activities and will act as a moderator in the live webinars. Every learning unit will host different experts from the scientific community, as well as professionals involved in the case studies.

Skip Learning program closes September 28, 2022