On April 27, TRAIN4BLUE experienced a particularly rich and productive day.
In the morning, in the heart of Crotone and hosted by ITS Academy PINTA Foundation, Italian and Greek partners gathered for the second project meeting to review progress and strengthen cooperation in view of the upcoming activities.
In the afternoon, the focus shifted to the co-design workshop titled “Building Blue Skills: Co-design workshop on training pathways for strengthening skills in the Blue Economy sector”, which brought together institutions, experts and local stakeholders to explore key competencies needed in the Blue Economy. Following a comprehensive overview of key training needs and the main barriers to youth employment – especially for NEETs – in Calabria, Puglia, the Ionian Islands and Western Greece, offered by the partners to the audience, the session moved into its core phase: collaborative co-design.
Through guiding questions and color-coded post-its, participants actively shared their perspectives on the most in-demand skills, the key contents to prioritize in training programmes, the most effective learning approaches, and the actors to be involved in their design and delivery. They also highlighted the importance of practical experiences alongside theoretical knowledge to better prepare young people for the labour market. In this process, participants identified skills gaps and proposed concrete training solutions.
The initiative fostered a highly participatory approach, encouraging dialogue between education providers, labour market actors and local communities, with a strong focus on supporting young people and enhancing their access to blue employment opportunities.
Data are certainly important, but it is listening to people that leads to concrete solutions.
