At the end of September, the 1st International BlueGeneration Conference took place in Palma de Mallorca. It was organised by the BlueGeneration project, which EBI contributes to as an expert partner.

At the event, EBI Secretary-General Philip Easthill spoke on a panel with the key stakeholders of the blue economy sector including ship-building, blue bioeconomy, maritime transport and the research field. From the discussions, it became clear that all blue economy sectors expert to experience labour shortages in the next years. Some of these will be competing with the boating industry for the same pool of potential employees, while needing to grow the workforce and get young people interested in a career in the industry. Among the challenges will also be getting more women into the industry, as well as identifying employees with the right skillset to navigate the green and digital transition.

Other speakers included the OECD, European Commission, Regional Government of Mallorca, and the Spanish Transport Ministry. Among the outcomes of the conference was the announcement of the future launch of the Blue Generation Federation that will continue to promote the blue economy and a career in the sector to young people. The project will end in January 2024 after which the Federation will take on the work.

The recording of the conference can be found here and more information about the different activities of the BlueGeneration project can be found here.