MATES wins Atlantic Project “Blue Skills and Ocean Literacy” Award
Press release: October 2021
MATES coordinator, Lucía Fraga of CETMAR, has accepted an Atlantic Project Award on behalf of the Erasmus+ partnership at the 8th Atlantic Stakeholders Platform Conference on 21 October 2021, in Dublin, Ireland. The award was made under the category “Blue Skills and Ocean Literacy”.
The Atlantic Project Awards are presented to outstanding initiatives, successful collaborations and achievements which further the implementation of the Atlantic Action Plan 2.0. These projects showcase best practices and partnership models that could be scaled up at the regional, national, European and international level. The award is a tribute to the almost four years of hard work that the MATES partnership has undertaken. Through effective collaboration and under the dedicated leadership of CETMAR, MATES has successfully achieved: a detailed report on the supply and demand of current skills in the shipbuilding and offshore renewable energy sectors; a report on future skills needs; a series of prioritised lines of action to align skills supply and demand; 11 Pilot Experiences addressing the lines of actions tested in different regional contexts; a Maritime Technologies Skills Strategy with recommendations; and an Action Plan for the different stakeholder groups involved along the value chains of both sectors.
The MATES Maritime Technologies Skills Strategy remains open for contributions to be accepted for inclusion in the final revision. The objective of the Skills Strategy is to show how identified skills gaps in the maritime technology sectors can be bridged and to anticipate future skills gaps. If you would like to provide feedback, contact mates@cetmar.org by 30 November 2021.
Commenting on the significance of the Skills Strategy and MATES activities, Lucía Fraga said “Overcoming challenges, such as the mismatch between training provision and industry needs and also the lack of widespread Ocean Literacy, is key to maintaining a competitive maritime industry. Through MATES we have identified a list of 32 key recommendations, insights and trends which we hope will be rolled out across Europe. We have started this transfer process through the European Commission’s Pact for Skills. The Pact is the first flagship action under the European Skills Agenda and is a shared engagement model for skills development in Europe with all sectoral actors playing a key role. MATES is transferring results to the shipbuilding Pact for Skills consortium and coordinating a consortium to promote the Pact for Skills in offshore renewable energies.”
The MATES partnership is also currently transferring all of the training material and resources developed through the Pilot Experiences to interested stakeholders for uptake. This includes innovative teaching methodologies to provide students with practical hands-on real-world experience to help bridge the skills gaps in the maritime industry. All material will be made freely accessible through www.projectmates.eu and www.marinetraining.eu.