Author: elcuser

On March 3, 2025, CoastalPro proudly co-organized an interactive workshop at Ocean Days 2025 in Brussels, alongside NextBlueGeneration and Blue Bio Techpreneurs. The session, titled “Exploring Blue Careers’ Pathways,” was moderated by Piret Liv Stern Dahl (BonoLab ApS, a Danish SME specializing in digitizing sustainability education). The panel featured Odysseas Spyroglou (CoastalPro Project Coordinator, Surf Club Keros), Silja Teege (NextBlueGeneration Project Coordinator, Sea Teach SL), and Alberto Terenzi (representative of Blue Bio Techpreneurs, Submariner Network). Together, they explored innovative strategies for engaging young people in the blue economy and discussed the role of AI, sustainability, and entrepreneurship in shaping future career opportunities.

A Hands-On Workshop with Engaged Participation

Led by Odysseas Spyroglou, CoastalPro’s Coordinator, the session attracted professionals, educators, and youth organizations eager to explore new ways of attracting talent to coastal tourism and other blue economy sectors. Through an interactive post-it note brainstorming session, participants worked in groups to answer key questions such as:

✅ How can we make sustainable blue careers more attractive to young people?

✅ What are the biggest challenges in securing talent for the green transition?

✅ How do we envision AI shaping the blue economy workforce?

Key Takeaways from the Discussion

🔹 AI’s impact on the Blue Economy: Participants highlighted AI’s potential in marine biodiversity tracking, ocean mapping, and surveillance for sustainable maritime operations.

🔹 Challenges in talent recruitment: The discussion emphasized the need for career clarity, better mentorship, and interdisciplinary learning to prepare young professionals for blue economy jobs.

🔹 Boosting Blue Careers’ Appeal: Suggestions included film festivals, social media campaigns, and embedding entrepreneurship into marine science education.

CoastalPro’s Role in Blue Careers Development

CoastalPro presented its game-based learning approach, which simulates real-life coastal tourism business scenarios to equip learners with entrepreneurial skills. The program, designed for students, young professionals, and aspiring entrepreneurs, aligns with the EU’s Blue Economy Strategy and aims to create eco-friendly and sustainable tourism opportunities.

🎯 What’s Next?

CoastalPro will continue its mission by launching new cohorts of learners in March 2025, offering mentorship, crowdfunding opportunities, and internships to participants.

Stay tuned for more updates, and if you’re interested in joining the next cohort, visit CoastalPro’s website! 🌊💼

#CoastalPro #BlueCareers #OceanDays2025 #SustainableTourism #GameBasedLearning

We are thrilled to announce that CoastalPro, in collaboration with EPLO/Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD), has successfully submitted the “Advancing Ocean and Water Literacy” action under the Mission Restore Our Ocean and Waters Charter—and it has been officially accepted! 🎉

What Does This Mean?

This recognition highlights the pivotal role our initiative plays in achieving the EU’s Mission Ocean and Waters objectives, including:

✅ Protecting and restoring marine and freshwater ecosystems 🐠🌿

✅ Preventing and eliminating pollution in our ocean, seas, and waters 🚯

✅ Advancing a carbon-neutral and circular sustainable blue economy 🌍⚓

About Our Action: Advancing Ocean and Water Literacy

The initiative aims to promote ocean and water literacy by raising awareness, building capacity, and fostering collaboration among educators, policymakers, coastal communities, and tourism professionals. Our expected impactincludes:

📢 Greater public understanding of the importance of aquatic ecosystems

📚 Empowered stakeholders who can integrate ocean literacy into decision-making

⚖️ Stronger policy influence at local, national, and EU levels

🌱 Resilient communities that adopt sustainable practices

Led by EPLO/ISD with contributions from Verimpact Academy and CoastalPro, this initiative will actively support EU policies and contribute to SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 14 (Life Below Water).

What’s Next?

Our action will soon be showcased on the Mission Charter Actions website and featured in EU Mission Ocean and Waters materials. We look forward to participating in upcoming Mission events and fora to further drive awareness and collaboration.

📢 Join us in making an impact! Stay updated at CoastalPro.eu

#CoastalPro #OceanLiteracy #MissionOcean #EUCharter #SustainableTourism #BlueEconomy

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the CoastalPro Quest today, Monday, November 11, 2024.

CoastalPro Quest, is an innovative, free, online, gamified learning experience aimed at providing knowledge, skills and inspiration to create eco-friendly, meaningful, and sustainable tourism experiences in coastal areas.

This immersive training journey includes six engaging modules, each designed to deepen participants’ knowledge of sustainable coastal practices.

Starting Monday, November 11, 2024, a new module will be released each week, allowing participants to progress through the CoastalPro Quest in a structured and enriching way, but you can regulate the learning process at your own pace.

Mark your calendars for these release dates:

• Module 1- The Stay: Monday, November 11
• Module 2- The Experience: Monday, November 18
• Module 3- The Adrenaline: Monday, November 25
• Module 4- The Environment: Monday, December 2
• Module 5- The Brand: Monday, December 9
• Module 6- The Business: Monday, December 16

Each module will bring new insights, challenges, and activities focused on coastal ecology, sustainable tourism, and responsible travel.

This is your chance to become a true Coastal Pro, gaining the skills and knowledge needed to be a potential coastal tourism entrepreneur and protect our coastlines for future generations.

Stay tuned for more details and get ready to embark on the CoastalPro Quest. Together, let’s make a positive impact on our coastal environments, one module at a time!

Register and start your journey:

https://project-spaces.eu/coastalpro/

From 10-12 of September 2024, Mundus participated in The Forum of Excellence in VET (CoVE) is an integral part of WorldSkills Lyon 2024, bringing together leading experts, educators, and industry representatives from around the globe. This forum aims to foster collaboration and innovation in vocational education and training by addressing common challenges faced by the sector. Participants engage in discussions on best practices, new methodologies, and the future of skills training.

The CoVE initiative focuses on establishing Centres of Vocational Excellence across Europe, which serve as hubs for sharing knowledge, resources, and strategies to improve VET. By promoting partnerships between education and industry, the CoVE Forum encourages the development of high-quality vocational programs that align with labor market needs. This collaboration aims to enhance the quality and relevance of vocational education, ensuring that it meets the demands of a rapidly changing economy.

Mundus is part of TourX – the first COVE in Toursim & Hospitality industry launched in 2022, but also other projects in Tourism and Hospitality, such as CoastalPro and TourEdu4all. 

Iva Perkovic, Project Manager for TourX and the CoastalPro projects at Mundus, took part in a workshop dedicated to #sustainabletourism practices and #adultlearning pathways for tourism professionals. It was a fantastic opportunity to share key examples from both projects and engage deeply with colleagues from across Europe who focus on these critical topics every day. “Together, we explored best practices, connected over shared goals, and gained invaluable insights into the unique needs and challenges we face in our countries.”

Our partners from the Maritime Cluster of the Canary Islands (CMC) proudly represented CoastalPro at FIMAR – Feria Internacional del Mar, one of the Canary Islands’ premier events dedicated to the marine and maritime sectors.

During the event, the CMC team disseminated CoastalPro flyers and engaged with visitors to raise awareness about our game-based learning platform focused on entrepreneurship and sustainable coastal tourism.

👏 A big thank you to CMC for helping us grow our network and share the CoastalPro vision with new audiences at the heart of the Atlantic!

#CoastalPro #BlueCareers #SustainableTourism #FIMAR2024 #MaritimeCluster #GamifiedLearning #CanaryIslands #BlueEconomy

As part of the 2024 European Maritime Day (EMD) celebrations, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) organized an innovative university project titled “Sustainable Coastal and Maritime Tourism,” under the EU-funded CoastalPro initiative.

📚 The project brought together 50 students —15 Greek and 35 Erasmus participants from 14 countries—enrolled in the course “Travel Journalism and Communication.” Their mission? To explore how journalism and public communication can foster a more responsible and sustainable travel lifestyle in coastal and maritime destinations.

🌍 What They Did

✔ Researched ocean-related global challenges, EU and UN policies, and sustainable tourism issues

✔ Analyzed travel media content and its influence on perceptions of coastal tourism

✔ Created digital communication campaigns targeting young travelers and the general public

✔ Produced travel content using social media, podcasts, and webcasts

This initiative aimed to build ocean literacy among journalism students and empower them to be ambassadors of sustainable travel practices in their countries and communities.

📈 Impact: The student-led campaigns reached over 4,000 people online, using storytelling and multimedia tools to raise awareness about ocean sustainability and responsible coastal tourism.

👏 Congratulations to our partners at AUTH for this creative and impactful contribution to EMD 2024!

#CoastalPro #EMD2024 #BlueCareers #SustainableTourism #TravelJournalism #OceanLiteracy #AUTH #Erasmus #DigitalStorytelling