The main objective of the Blue Economy is a sustainable use of the oceans that reduces environmental risks and increases the quality of life (QoL). It is urgent to capacitate local communities with appropriate marine biodiversity management tools to achieve blue growth, ensure sustainability of fisheries and conservation of threatened species, and adaptation to global changes. BLUE ROUTE is an inter-disciplinary initiative in marine science to promote networking, high-level thinking and critical 21st century skills in Doctorate professionals. To boost the Blue Economy, we rely on a hybrid (virtual, simulated, and physical) pedagogical design and experienced scholars to support a global network of learners. The pedagogical approach favors student-active learning on a flipped classroom and stresses the value of face-to-face communication. Dealing with the global challenges brought about by the pandemic and climate change requires an unprecedented undertaking to advance and rebuild an equitable and sustainable ocean economy. Our proposal is a concept development of a global network that counterbalances the Maritime Silk Road proposed by China, and engages Portugal and Norway with their strategic partners in the south Atlantic and Asia.
The outcomes of BLUE ROUTE are: 1- an advanced and interdisciplinary program to produce highly skilled international workers with the ability to create jobs and start-ups at a global scale (10 PhD student supported), 2-Create an open network of remote educational resources (BLUE ROUTE online platform), 3- To create modern academic structures centered on Blue growth in (PhD programs Joint Initiatives- Curricula development, online courses, cotutelles, simulated internships).
The BLUE ROUTE will join the UAlg- University of Algarve (lead) and the UiT -University of Tromsø (co-Lead), two partners with over 20 years of collaboration, with other Institutional/Industry Partners to increase value of doctoral programs: IPMA, IPL, OLSPS Marine, MARTRAIN and CCVLagos, including BLUE ROUTE has associated partners, both national as S2AQUA CoLAB and international: Angola (Namibe University), Mozambique (Eduardo Mondlane University), Brazil (Federal University of Pernambuco), Sri-Lanka (Ruhuna University) and Japan (Nagasaki University) and others will join.
