TECoNaut, the way towards the green transition of the nautical industry

The project, funded by the European Union, will be implemented over three years by a consortium of European marine organizations, institutions, academics and shipyards from seven countries: Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Greece and Turkey.

European recreational boating is on the road to sustainability, a process in which recreational boatbuilding is facing two major challenges: the production of more sustainable materials and the need to recruit and train qualified professionals for the implementation of these materials.

In order to meet these challenges and provide answers helping the necessary change in the supply, use and application of these materials, the TECoNaut project, created and coordinated by Sea Tech, financed by the European Union and managed by a consortium of seven European countries, will follow a strategy based on four objectives that correspond to four work parts:

1. comprehensive identification of Skills gaps, aligned with the multilingual European classification of skills, competences, qualifications and occupations ESCO and which will make use of the new EU Green Taxonomy.

2. Development of a course for Vocational Training on materials produced with Deep Tech technology, which will include contents on the use and application of these materials as well as a Training of Trainers Programme.

3. Design of an internship programme for higher education students who will work on the application of Deep Tech skills in companies.

4. Awakening the entrepreneurial mindset of students and future workers in the 'eco' nautical sector, so that they can consider developing businesses linked to the use of sustainable materials and the circularity of boat building materials, while fostering their resilience skills.

"In this first phase of the project to publicize its objectives, the web communication tools https://teconaut.eu are already in the development phase, which will have versions in all the languages of the project partners and social media profiles to which other informative materials will be added, as well as the launch of various events, whose calendar will start with the official presentation of the project at the Palma International Boat Show, on the 26th of April," explains Jordi Carrasco, director general of ANEN. "For the Spanish nautical industry it is a great challenge to join this project that will have a direct impact on the objectives that the industry clearly demands of us: qualitative professional skills and technological development that will help us to draw a sector that is closely aligned with the sustainable indicators that have been set for industrial development in the European framework," he concludes.