"<< Background >>GREEN TO BLUE project focuses on workers in the professional fishing and aquaculture sector and intends to expand and develop the training offer with courses aimed at raising levels of competence and qualification in the environmental field, a field with multiple meanings such as: management of natural resources, prevention of marine pollution, water quality, sea-gathered waste management, etc…. Fishing and aquaculture sector is characterized by workers with low qualifications and with a high average age. The recent study of the Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee of the European Commission (STECF 2019), shows that 58% of the workforce in the sector has an average age between 40 and 64 years and 67% of workers in fishing and aquaculture has a low education, with weak skills. Although fishermen have an important working experience at sea, the category is fragile and it’s difficult for them to adapt to the changes we are all subjected to. The main objective of the GREEN TO BLUE project is to provide sector workers and sector stakeholders with an effective and functional training program, in order to IMPROVE THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT system and develop technical skills strongly centred on the SUSTAINABILITY OF ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE SEA. The project approach is based on the development of innovative and quality training modules, both from the point of view of the methodologies implemented and of contents related to environmental skills and to the development of job opportunities linked to the blue economy addressed to low-qualified adults.Based on this general awareness, the specific needs that this project wants to try to find an answer to are:A. For organizations operating in the training field (VET providers and universities), but also for local agencies, the main interest is to respond to a growing need for professionalization of figures such as those operating in the sectors fisheries and aquaculture, for which it is necessary to provide for qualification and conversion paths towards a more environmentally sustainable style. Therefore, VET providers, local agencies and universities must give innovative and high-quality answers.B. As for research centers and the European networks, the driving need is on the one hand to be able to create a stable link with the fisheries and aquaculture operators through which to promote new awareness on the important role that these professions have on the marine environment and on the other build innovative proposals that can become a model to be replicated throughout Europe and also generate a strategic evolution of policies dedicated to the care and preservation of the seas. C. For fishery and aquaculture operators, on the professional front today, even if in many cases the inheritance of this activity persists to carry out the trade, one worker must be able to acquire and master a series of skills, both traditional and extremely innovative: today's fisherman can no longer operate without being informed and keep up to date on increasingly advanced navigation instruments, on the opportunities and limitations provided by both EU and national legislation, on environmental problems, on the sustainability of resources.For this reason, the project considers important to focus on increasing the skills of these figures, in particular on the environmental sustainability, a topic that significantly impacts on fishing activities.D. For trainers, tutors and representatives and trade unions in the sector there is a need of knowing how to manage the strong innovation boosts in the ""blue"" economy. New opportunities may also arise for the ""traditional"" sector of fishing, helping it to better face future challenges related to the sustainability of marine resources and the preservation of the environment.<< Objectives >>GREEN TO BLUE is a project strongly centred on environmental sustainability as it develops a strategy aimed at introducing environmental technical skills in the fishing and aquaculture sector with reference to the management of the marine environment and natural resources, the prevention of marine pollution through the collection of marine litter and the development of issues related to climate change. The production and implementation of a flexible and adaptable training offer to these workers will allow to strengthen the knowledge and skills levels of the fishing and aquaculture sector, thus adapting the training offer and the quality learning opportunities, in accordance with the green transition of professions. If we also consider the SDGs and specifically Objective 14 ""Conserving and using the oceans, seas and marine resources in a sustainable way for sustainable development"", it is essential to work for the acquisition of specific skills by those people who actively generate impact on the seas by directing them to a sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fishing, aquaculture and tourism. Therefore, the goal of this action is to improve the professional environmental skills of adults working in the fishing and fish farming sector, especially in micro and SMEs, through a training course structured so as to be flexible and adaptable to their daily work and increase their awareness on environmental issues related to their professions.Yet fisheries and aquaculture sectors are experiencing difficulties in finding qualified employees – and the sector expect these difficulties to continue in the near future. This is due to:•a skills gap between education offer and labour market needs, especially with regards to environmental developments and innovation;•a lack of communication and cooperation between education and industry.For these reasons the consortium wishes to implement a common proposal to create a structured response, capable of addressing the needs of different actors involved in the creation of a training path, contributing to the diffusion of a more environment driven cultural approach in the sector, a raised capacity of VET organisations to provide this kind of competences and skills and a more structured relationship with scientific world that can bring significant innovations in the sector.A fundamental element is to increase lifelong learning opportunities, i.e. the fact that people of any age and throughout their life can train and adapt their skills in a manner consistent with social developments. So, access to re-skilling and up-skilling training opportunities must be guaranteed to everyone, regardless of age or starting conditions, because acquisition of competences and skills increase the opportunities for inclusion and contribute to the creation of a fairer society, which gives everyone the opportunity to determine their future.To make this possible, education and training systems must change and adopt new methods and approaches; their contribution is fundamental to assure high-quality and flexible skills and competences and therefore they too are required to change in order to achieve European objectives, especially those addressing environmental issues and adaptation to climate changes and this could be done easily through exchange of knowledges, competences, expertise among partners representing different MS and working in different type of organisations all interested in promoting the development of fishery and aquaculture sector and its innovation.<< Implementation >>The project will reach its objectives by realising an integrated working methodology that combines theoretical analysis with qualitative research and hands-on activities, based on a participative and bottom-up approach, which means active involvement - at any stage - of all the relevant actors, either project partners or external stakeholders. The intensive research part of the project (IO1), in charge to an academic institution such as the Erdogan University, will include a analyses and collection of best practices on 2 main topics:- Bi-directional dialogue between researchers and fishers/fish farmers: how to make fishermen and fish farmers “Sentinels of the sea” able to interact with scientific interlocutors;- Plastic waste collection and applied blue circular economy approaches: recognize the role of “ecological operator” for fishermen and fish farmers to protect the marine environment.Researches and good practices will be collected and analysed with documentation/interviews on national frameworks. Second phase after the draft definition of relevant competences/skills to be included in the training proposal, GREEN TO BLUE will listen to the opinions and requests of those that everyday experience on the ground the reality of working on this specific area of fishery and aquaculture, by gathering dedicated associations, federations and also workers in a series of 5 focus groups run by partners in IT, CR, TK, GR, FR . The University will furthermore provide an online questionnaire to be delivered by EUROPECHE to its associated members, in order to have also a wider EU perspective.The integration of these 2 elements, documental research, empirical research and exchange among stakeholders, will equip the experts of the partnership with a comprehensive picture of the state of the art upon which build an effective and well-targeted training and validation/certification methodologies (IO2 and 3). Significant and relevant indicators will be the outcomes of the studies and of the focus groups, measurable by reports delivered, while major milestones will be represented by the release of the provisional version of the training and validation/certification methodologies.Later, partners will test, in a real training environment, the interim achievements of IO2 and IO3, by training workers and representatives of fishery and aquaculture enterprises involved in 2 diversified training sessions so as to fine tune its contents and the validation of skills learned in the training. The finalisation of both Outputs will be done once again with a bottom up methodology and considering the trainers and trainees feedbacks. In fact, trainees of the pilot tests will give their feedback on how the trainingaddresses the professional needs for those involved in fishery and aquaculture and at the same time trainers and project partners will transform feedbacks in the final version of training programme and manual (IO2 and 3).In this phase, core indicators will be the attendance to the courses, measured by attendance certificates, while milestones will be the release of the revised edition of training and certification methodology. Another important activity is the one of dissemination, that will make GREEN TO BLUE known by the widest possible audience and its results integrated into policies and practices of the field in several nations. This purpose will be achieved by realising 7 multiplier events with stakeholders, 6 of them organised at local level – with the participation of VET providers and local community actors (to be intended as consumers for sector operators involved) to spread not just project results but also raise awareness on the topic of sustainability in the sea areas covered by the project. One of multiplier events is organised in the form of EU level conference, organised by EUROPECHE, representing a more institutional presentation of GREEN TO BLUE project objectives and results/impacts.<< Results >>The project aims to generate a change, first cultural, in the actors working with the sea and for the sea. Considering the sea not only as a productive area but also as a heritage to be safeguarded already determines a change of perspective for the future activities of the sector.As for results, GREEN TO BLUE project will realise the following:1. GREEN TO BLUE SKILLS FRAMEWORK: structuring a complete picture of the skills professionals from fisheriy and aquaculture sector should have to increasingly include the theme of sustainability understood in various meanings: economic, regulatory, environmental and climatic, safeguarding marine resources and also relationship between scientific research and the daily activities of workers. The framework will be useful for VET providers to adapt their training offer accordingly.2. GREEN TO BLUE TRAINING PROGRAMME: based on the skills framework, the consortium will propose a training program structure defining the contents corresponding to competences, the duration of the training modules, the expected results and the methodologies. The goal is the definition of 2 training courses equipping VET trainers, coach, tutors to implement actions in direction of : 1. representatives associations; 2. workers based on a ""training catalogue"" through which each worker can build his own personalized and flexible path.3. GREEN TO BLUE MANUAL & POLICY INDICATIONS: composed by two parts, a study and development of one or more VALIDATION/CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS related to the skills emerging from the project and applicable at EU level, POLICY INDICATIONS on how the role of fishermen and fish farmers of the future is essential for sustainable development.As for OUTCOMES:1. GENERATE AN OVERALL GREATER AWARENESS OF ALL THE ACTORS AROUND THE CONCEPT OF ""PRESERVATION OF THE SEA"": fishermen, aquaculture producers, companies, representative organizations, each for their own competence, are called from now to integrate environmental attention into the activities carried out. The training packages that the project intends to develop, as well as the certification practices, go in this direction. Environmental sustainability is an issue that must find a direct application in the working context passing, in the medium-long term, ""from awareness to action"". 2. GENERATE A NEW FIGURE OF FISHERMAN AND FISH FARMER, THAT OF “SENTINEL OF THE SEA”. This is not a radical change in the trade but a progressive recognition of the role of ecological operators of the sea and protectors of the marine environment that fishermen will increasingly have to take on. 3. CREATING SECTORAL DECISION-MAKING AND WORKING PRACTICES that take into account, increasingly, the presence of a network of actors with different skills, based on the two-way dialogue between fishermen, fishing organizations, research centres, agencies of local development, businesses, institutions, stakeholders."