Second Transnational Partners Meeting of the Erasmus+ project “The digital Blue Career to overcome the Carbon Crisis – Innovations in Aquaculture Curriculum” [DiBluCa] at the University of Thessaly
The second partners’ meeting of the Erasmus+ international project “The Digital Blue Career to overcome the Carbon Crisis – Innovations in Aquaculture Curriculum” [DiBluCa] (No. 2023-1-LT01-KA220-HED-000154247) took place at the University of Thessaly in Volos, Greece, from 11 to 12 June.
The meeting provided an overview of the first results of the project – an analysis of the current situation of aquaculture education in the project partner countries. Questionnaires developed by researchers from Balikesir University were distributed to students and teachers in the project partner countries as well as to representatives of the target groups. The survey was completed by 261 participants, a total of 110 academics/teachers and 151 students.
There was unanimous agreement among the survey participants on the need to increase knowledge and skills related to climate change, the implications of the future post-carbon crisis and new topics in aquaculture education to mitigate the effects of climate change. The environmental impact of aquaculture, particularly in relation to global warming, emerged as the most pressing issue, alongside issues such as fish farming, biotechnology and disease management.
Surveys have shown the need for a forward-looking approach to aquaculture education. Equipping students with the knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of climate change is critical to the long-term sustainability of the aquaculture industry.
It is notable that most participants were not familiar with the term ‘blue career’, although many were aware of concepts such as global warming and a post-carbon future.
The results of the surveys show that students are open to innovative ways of learning and see the potential for this knowledge to benefit their careers. In terms of preferred learning environments, students prefer blended learning, which combines face-to-face interaction with online or flexible learning methods.
During the meeting the working document of the second project outcome – pedagogical methodology – prepared by the researchers of the National Technical University of Odessa was presented. This result is of particular importance as it will help the project participants in the preparation of the e-learning platform, e-book, lecture slides and lecture notes. After consolidation of the partners’ suggestions and comments, this document will be finalised at the end of July.
The second day of the meeting was dedicated to a technical visit to BioMar, one of the world’s largest producers of high-quality sustainable feeds for the global aquaculture industry. The company operates a total of 17 feed production sites in Norway, Chile, Denmark, Scotland, Spain, France, Vietnam, Greece, Turkey, China, Ecuador, Australia and Costa Rica, serving more than 90 countries worldwide. The company is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and GLOBALG.A.P. standards.
The participants discussed the dissemination of information, the preparation of the interim project report and other organisational and operational issues.
The project partners are Balikesir University (Turkey), University of Dubrovnik (Croatia), Odesa National University of Technology (Ukraine), University of Thessaly (Greece), coordinator Vytautas Magnus University (VMU).
The next meeting will be held at the University of Dubrovnik (Croatia) in January 2025.
The project will run from 01.11.2023 to 31.10.2025.
