Exploring Blue Skills

On Wednesday, 6th October, we visited Lazăr Edeleanu Technological High School to participate in the reception of Turkish students as part of an Erasmus+ exchange. Indeed this visit allowed us to introduce the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 goals adopted by all United Nations members in 2015. These global goals aim for “peace and prosperity for people and the planet” – addressing climate change and promoting the oceans and forests preservation. As a result in all partner countries—Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Ireland, and Romania—initiatives engage young people to raise awareness of the SDGs. We focused specifically on two goals: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and Clean Water and Sanitation.

Consequently this provided a bridge to the second part of our presentation on Blue Skills. We introduced students to the international alphabet of signals, some core principles of the international maritime code, and a broad overview of careers within the Blue Economy. We also distributed a magazine on this topic, providing students with a comprehensive list of jobs in this sector. Additionally, we organised an interactive activity where students matched various blue economy roles with their descriptions. As a student in this field, Ersin detailed several facets for each of them through his experience. This activity led to the creation of a colourful poster that the students displayed with pride during the final group photo.

Finally, we exchanged roles and attended a presentation by university students, who introduced the Erasmus+ project and discussed sustainability.

To conclude, both the university students and our guests seemed genuinely inspired by the United Nations’ ambitious commitment to building a better world. The enthusiasm surrounding the activity on maritime careers, brought to life by Ersin, allowed participants to explore this field in an engaging and enjoyable way.

Location: Năvodari, Romania

Date: 06.10.2024