The ocean is a source of life for human beings. It gives us food, oxygen and energy. It is home to many species and acts as climate regulator. The ocean is already the world’s biggest employer, supporting the livelihoods of more than 3 billion people and providing food for more than 2.6 billion. As well explained by Martin Koehring in its recent book Preparing a Workforce for the New Blue Economy (2021) the transition from the “old” blue economy to a new economy that is both sustainable and built on data, information, and knowledge, requires a major transition for technology, talent, and skills too.
Skills in general are central to recover from the current crisis and to achieve the digital and green transitions. As reflected by the New Industrial Strategy for Europe, moving towards a low carbon economy will create more than 1 million jobs by 2030, and industrial transitions will require reskilling and upskilling more than 120 million Europeans in the next five years.
These changes are already required for the acquisition of a whole new pattern of skills, from technical to soft ones. A “blue-green culture” based on human – centered approach needs to be developed: the acquisition of new skills in the workplace will increase resilience and adaptability of workers, stakeholders, and adopted policies, while contributing to green growth, planetary health and societal resilience.
In order to foster and sustain a full participation of all stakeholders in the economic renaissance of the labor market, it is urgent to promote an call-to-action and proactive commitment while bringing our best to solve some of humanity’s biggest challenges, and be part of the solution.
The event will be an opportunity to take the first steps toward the “Global Alliance for Skills”, a first-of-its-kind hub of knowledge, resource and shared meeting ground, connecting leaders from around the world with the common goal of supporting the transition to a circular and sustainable economy through solutions that make the workforce and society resilient.
Starting from the fisheries, aquaculture and blue economy sectors in Europe, the Global Alliance for Skills will discuss in this session the ways in which European workers can seize reskilling and upskilling opportunities useful to deepen their knowledge and learn new skills, including technological ones, necessary to adapt to a constantly changing world that is advancing towards a digital transition, energetic and ecological.
The Global Alliance for Skills will detect industry-level trends and provide a robust representation of the skills that will be emerging in the coming years within specific fields, job families, and professions, in any single industrial ecosystem, and cross country.
The Global Alliance for Skills brings together leaders from different nations and industries to design, follow and present measures of economic and social impacts, with the scope of enabling capacity building and regeneration processes of organizations, products and services, policies, towards an impact-oriented model.
Through a critical reflection on “The disruptive effects of AI and ethical labor market intelligence in the Blue Economy” Mohan Reddy from Stanford University will deepen some aspects of the Blue Economy through the Quantum Labor Analysis and the advantages of a skills-based approach, useful to strengthen the competitiveness of the labor market and to promote innovation in the Ocean economy.
