we work to make the boating building sector greener by creating a new generation of skilled workers who will be connected to boat building companies (medium sized or start-ups) that are implementing sustainable solutions.

The boating industry in Europe is a dynamic and competitive sector and a significant contributor to the European economy with over 6.5 million boats being kept in European waters. The total industry is made up of 32,000 companies, directly employing over 280,000 people.

Most of the fleet is built using approx. 72.000 tons of non-recyclable materials and besides the implementation of recycling solutions for this vast amount of non-recyclable material, the use and implementation of new, sustainable fibres and resins for boat building is needed.

This necessary change has triggered a major need in the nautical industry for a deep-tech talent pool on sustainable materials that has the necessary skills and knowledge about composites that will be the new green wave of the sector, including the sourcing, use, application, and disposal of sustainable materials. 

Our goal is to make the construction and repair of pleasure boats more environmentally friendly. To achieve this, we will encourage the creation of a new generation of qualified workers in shipyards and repair companies, who will implement or apply sustainable solutions.

Last week we met in Palma to share our work plans in the development of a Deep-Tech materials course for Vocational Training, whose content will be the use and application of sustainable materials together with a Training of Trainers Program.

We aim to:

• Awaken the entrepreneurial mindset of students and future workers in the “eco” nautical sector, so that they can see a future business in the use of sustainable materials and the circularity of boat construction materials while promoting their resilience skills.

• Design an internship program for HE students with “hands-on” approaches that will work on the application of “sustainable” skills in companies. The much-needed green wave in boatbuilding can only be successfully developed through a collaboration of Higher Education that is researching materials, companies that are building their boats sustainably using these materials, and VET institutions that can provide qualified personnel.

The project is made up of nautical companies and institutions from seven countries -Spain, France, Greece, Belgium, Germany, Turkey, and Poland- and together we hope to contribute to forging a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future for all.