EU Ocean Days 2025: Why should we care about the ocean? What is our role and responsibility?

Why should we care about the ocean? What is our role and responsibility? 

This is the key question at the opening of the series of meetings for European Ocean Days 2025  

EVENT REPORT – In line with the PoVE Water project, aiming at expanding the holistic approach to Vocational Excellence in the Global water sector by securing a central role of Vocational Education & Training in Regional Innovation Ecosystems, EfVET attended the opening of the second “European Ocean Days” conference held in Brussels from March 3-7, 2025

A precious opportunity to stay updated on developments in the industry, take inspiration from the voices of young activists, scientists and experts, in discussion with institutional figures from the European Commission. With this report we aim to summarize the key points around the complex industry discussion, making it accessible to a wider audience

 Key takeaways: 

  • Shaping the future of the Blue Economy is a priority for the EU Commission. 
  • There are many investment opportunities in the energy, security, and transport sectors connected to the Water Marine and Maritime sector
  • We need to preserve biodiversity, but also protect people depending on the ocean economy, creating jobs and boosting the local economy. 
  • We need to actively include civil society and municipalities in the process. 
  • Ocean management and renewable technologies: how to combine these two dimensions is the million-dollar question. 
  • We need to guide EU policies and create participatory policies that include all voices in decision-making (local, regional, youth voices, stakeholder involvement). 
  • There should be sanctions and countermeasures for those who break ocean rules and laws. In international, legally binding agreements, there are specific laws, but they are often not implemented or circumvented. 
  • We need to highlight the importance of tech in the blue economy and the fishery industry and make it more attractive to young people and professionals in the sector. 
  • Need for systemic change open to new generations: how to reconnect with nature, address anti-scientific positions and gain momentum in the process.  
  • We should push for ocean literacy, to move the coasts inland, with a European feeling. Pollution, migration, economics, defense, technology and AI, pop culture discussions, job opportunities, are all interconnected. 
  • We need to ensure the skills and competencies needed for a sustainable blue workforce in the future. 
  • We need to underline the importance of finding candidates with the right skills, or at least basic literacy/mathematics, STEM, digital, and problem-solving skills after leaving the normal educational process. There are still gaps and generational clashes to be resolved. 
  • There are still challenges but also many solutions for strengthening “blue citizenship” within Europe’s civil society. 
  • Blue Skills development projects need to have a skills framework similar to Green Economy or Digital Skills. 
  • Ocean literacy starts with river pollution: cleanup and good practices can make a huge difference in creating a better future for everyone. 
  • Blue Citizenship is not only understanding the ecosystem but also taking responsibility and ensuring the future of the next generation. 
  • Blue schools are educating children about blue citizenship. The active role of municipalities is to stimulate education by training teachers to become ocean advocates in the classroom. Politicians should participate in this process. 

Key documents & resources: 

Download the full EfVET event report with detailed updates on the water sector and PoVE Water project here.

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International Mobility activities are a key component of PoVE Water, promoting internationalization while sharing and disseminating innovative water education strategies. 

By continuing to build on the national Centers of Vocational Excellence Water (CoVE’s Water) in the Netherlands, Malta, Czech Republic, and Latvia, each CoVE Water expands by including neighboring countries in the partnership. PoVE Water expanded globally by setting up and running a CoVE Water South Africa. 

PoVE Water is an integrated part of skills ecosystems, contributing to regional development, innovation, inclusion and smart specialisation water strategies.  

PoVE Water Scale-up integrates a learner centred holistic approach in all its activities. Not only are the VET institutions at the core of the CoVE Water communities, VET students will acquire vocational and key competences through high-quality delivery of Water related learning materials, Virtual Reality and international experiences, supported by the continuous professional development of teaching and training staff and a strong connection to the world of work and work-based learning component. 

Through hands-on learning, teaching, and training activities, we strive for excellence in water education, encouraging a global exchange of ideas and practices for sustainable water resources management. PoVE Water will not only establish international mobilities of students in Vocational and Higher Education, but also educators, policy advisors and water sector professionals will visit each other and share knowledge and experiences. Learn more about the PoVE Water project at this link. 

 

The report was created by the EfVET team: event report by Michele Pasquale, Comms Manager, w/the support of Ibon Rejas Izaguirre, Project Officer. Revision by Paolo Nardi, Executive Director, Valentina Chanina, Secretary General. Final editorial support/graphics by Jaime Rivas, Comms trainee.  

Photo Credits: EfVET/M.Pasquale, released in CC license. The full photo album is available at this link.

Download the full EfVET event report with detailed updates on the water sector and PoVE Water project here.

 

 

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