The European Commission has launched a €4 million call for proposals to address short and medium term skills needs by boosting cooperation in the maritime technologies sector, including tidal and wave.
The call was launched as the first phase of implementation of the Blueprint for sectorial cooperation on skills, established by the New Skills Agenda for Europe.
This call targets cooperation in skills in the maritime technologies sector, with the aim to produce a strategy at European level and an action plan for the national and regional levels over the course of 4 years, which will then be implemented in the second phase of the Blueprint, and financed by the European structural and investment funds.
The Blueprint will seek to identify skills needs in the areas of traditional maritime technology products, such as shipbuilding and offshore oil & gas, but also, renewable energy including offshore wind, ocean energy, as well aquaculture, marine biotechnology, and monitoring and observation.
The deadline to submit applications to the call is set for May 2, 2017.
The Blueprint is a new framework for strategic cooperation between key stakeholders such as businesses, trade unions, research, education and training institutions, public authorities, of a given sector, designed to stimulate investment and encourage the strategic use of EU and national funding opportunities.
Through video-conference, an info day has been set up to provide details about the call for proposals taking place on February 16, 2017.
The call is supported by the Erasmus+ program (Sector Skills Alliances tool) and managed by the Education, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).