Blue Career Centre for Aquaculture Education supported by a gamification approach and distance learning platform (BlueAquaEdu)

Short description of the project: BlueAquaEdu is a three-year project financed by EMFAF, aimed at exploring gamification as a pedagogic approach to engage and motivate teenagers (15-18) and students (18+) in aquaculture, post-harvesting value chain and valorisation of the processing by-products sectors education.

Expected results: BlueAquaEdu will: i) Develop a Gamification Application for cages and recirculating aquaculture system technologies and 5 fish species; ii) Develop 5 common training programs for aquaculture (cage farming, hatcheries, RAS), the post-harvesting value chain and valorisation of processing by-products; iii) Attract competent Mentors with hands-on experience in the selected sectors; iv) Establish a virtual Aquaculture Educational Network (v-AquaEduN) that will cover a wide geographical area in Europe, EU Outermost Regions, Med non-EU Countries and Africa; v) Develop a Sharing-Pooling e-Platform for Mentoring; and vi) Organise Workshops, Summer Schools and Apprenticeships.

Application/relevance: BlueAquaEdu will enhance digital, green, soft, transversal, inter-/multi-disciplinary, managerial, entrepreneurial and project management skills of the next generation Aquaculture graduates. It will fill in the gaps of lack of structured, continued collaboration between industry and educational/VET institutions and lack of “skills ecosystems” at sea basin level bringing together education, industry and public authorities.