Name: Intelligent Marine systems - a Pathway towards sustAinable eduCation, knowledge and empowerment Total budget: 266.618,00 EUR The total budget for UNIZG-FER: 30.438,00 EUR Start: 01/11/2018 |
The European Commission has estimated that the economic impact of the “blue” economy, which considers all activities linked to the sea, is worth more than 400 billion € annually, with more than 150 billion € in activities directly related to marine activities. Additionally, marine systems (considering autonomous vehicles in the underwater, surface or aerial domain, as well as sensor systems) in HEI can significantly contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the 2030 Agenda set by all UN countries
This project brings together eight key HEIs in Europe for a two-year cooperation in the field of marine systems with the aim of:
- Creating a sustainable, international, and cross-field network in the area, to foster cooperation, exchange of good practice and innovative approaches, providing a platform to discuss key topics in the area, linking them to the UN SDGs;
- Creating novel study material in the field of marine systems- Fostering entrepreneurship mindset and creative thinking;- Bridging the gap between academia and industry, making the two worlds working closer;
- Creating occasions for students to participate in international Intensive Study Programs, with renowned speakers;
The activities of the partnership will be organised in the following way:
- Each transnational project meeting - two each year - will focus on a specific topic relevant to the network, and with particular reference to the UN SDGs:
- Employability - a discussion about how the current courses link the students to potential companies and employers will bring concrete recommendation about the active involvement of industries and companies;
- SDG 8: decent work and economic growth;- Gender Equality - a discussion about current strategy and new options to reduce the gender unbalance, which is still quite high in the robotics field, will bring concrete action plans and recommendations for future actions;
- SDG 5: gender equality;- Education, Teaching & Research - teaching courses and approaches across the partners will be presented to identify synergies and best practices; ways to integrate the teaching and the research aspects will be discussed to foster a virtuous system of reciprocal reinforcing
- SDG 4: quality education;- Environment and sustainability - a discussion and brainstorming on how to include sustainability aspects in marine systems curricula, and the role that marine system can play for an environmentally sustainable planet -
- SDG 14: oceans,
- SDG 13: climate change;
- Entrepreneurship; compare approaches to give the right tools to students and empower them, drafting conclusions about the study course developed and its test trial as ISP - SDG 8: decent work and economic growth.
The partnership will develop four intellectual outputs:-
- An interdisciplinary study course on marine systems-
- An engaging study course on entrepreneurship-
- An innovative study course on marine systems for the industry-
- A special issue of a journal publication about education in marine systems, with a particular attention to the results and the topics analysed in the project life.
Students will participate in two Intensive Study Program sessions - one per year:
- Marine Systems: organised an interdisciplinary summer school, with renowned international teachers, with a student-centric approach which will also allow hands-on experience
- Entrepreneurship: organised not only to provide basic information but also to actively engage the participants. The two ISPs will also serve to test the two study courses developed for students and the feedback will be used for the final updates.
The main outcomes of the project are:
- For the staff point of view, the development of educational practices to improve knowledge and skills, and to foster employability and entrepreneurship, with an inclusive approach, in the field of marine systems;
- For the students, the possibility to participate in an international dimension to high-quality study programmes, increasing their chances of employability
- For the wider HEI community, the availability of coherent courses in marine systems and entrepreneurship
- For the industry, the availability of ad-hoc course thought explicitly for their needs. It is expected that a pilot course will also run in the timeframe of the project, though not explicitly in the framework of this project. As it aims staff from the private sector which is not a partner in the project, we do not consider that course as ISP
- For all involved people, the possibility to get to know the UN SDGs and be encouraged into a sustainable lifestyle, from all varied perspectives