500+ young people aged 15-29 participated enthusiastically in the Blue Generation open workshop on "EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES in the BLUE ECONOMY", which took place at the War Museum of Athens on Thursday, May 11, 2023, with the aim to connect young people with professionals in the blue economy, education, and sustainable development. Young women and men interacted with representatives of Coastal Tourism, Fishing, Aquaculture, Marine Biotechnology, Ocean Energy, Marine Transport, and Shipbuilding, who shared their knowledge and experiences and guided them in designing their careers.

Watch the event here.

Topics highlighted:

In-demand professions that require different levels of specialization, such as software engineers for creating applications for shipping and yachting, sailors for managing marinas, divers or marketing and sales executives for aquaculture, technicians such as pipefitters or welders for shipbuilding and maintenance, legal experts for a regulatory framework in ship inspection and marine spatial planning, warehouse managers for port management, environmentalists for designing offshore wind farms, biologists for developing cosmetics from marine organisms.

Sustainable development is a cornerstone of the blue economy, and professionals across all sectors should be aware of and incorporate its goals into their activities.

Soft skills, such as resilience, teamwork, communication skills, and life-long learning, characteristics that are developed through volunteering, internships, and experimentation, were identified as important factors in finding employment and achieving professional success.

We warmly thank the distinguished representatives of the Blue Economy who participated in the conference and shared their knowledge and experiences with the enthusiastic young audience (presented in alphabetical order):

Dr. Valia Augustidi (Head of Science & Environment, HELMEPA), Irini Veniamis (Director Golden Union Shipping), Spyros Zolotas (Marine Senior Director for Southern Europe & Africa, RINA), George Kallianis (Special Secretary of the Board of Directors of HELMEPA), Apostolos Kamarinakis (CEO of Elefsina Port Authority), George Kontoulis (Director of Quality, Environment, Safety and Health at Work, Information Security of Elefsina Port Authority), Dr. Manos Koutrakis (Biologist - Ichthyologist, Director of Research at HCMR-Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Inland Waters), Iasonas Lainos (Maritime Manager, HELMEPA), Evangelos Liggos, President of the Labor Center of Elefsina Western Attica / EKEDA), Ioanna-Alexia Betsi (Chief People Officer, Philosofish, Member of the Hellenic Aquaculture Producers Association / ELOPY), Kostas Panagos (Co-Founder SEIL Science Ethics Intelligence Logic), Pavlina Protoiou (Founder / CEO, beyondCSR), Christina Samoulada (HR Director, D-Marin Global Services), Dr. Stella Tsani (Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, University of Athens), Marianna Terzidaki (BlueGeneration Project Coordinator, Militos Consulting), Captain Michael Fragias (Honorary Member of the Training Committee of HELMEPA).

The workshop was implemented by Militos Consulting S.A., Leader of the European initiative #BlueGeneration in collaboration with HELMEPA - Hellenic Marine Environment Protection Association, a partner in the consortium. It was held under the auspices of Elefsina Port Organization with the support of IEK DELTA.