The Future Leadership Forum was recently hosted by the University of Parthenope in Naples with the aim to design a partnership framework for the Alliance with external institutions, in order to transform this European Partnership into a Global Partnership, a partnership aimed at emphasising its benefits for the entire planet and envisioning a future centred around a sustainable blue environment.
The forum was attended by Rector鈥檚 Delegate for SEA-EU, , together with and as part of the SEA-EU Affairs Committee.
Representatives from all nine participating Alliance Universities met in Naples on 19 October to also share ideas on how SEA-EU can assist in addressing and bridging the most pressing skill gaps evident within prospective employees and in countering some of society's most fundamental contemporary challenges, in line with the objections of Work Package 5 (Bridging with Society).
In their interventions, all SEA-EU partners reiterated the ever-growing importance of skills-based competences such as the four Cs (Creative Thinking, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication), Digital Literacy, Emotional intelligence (Empathy, Equality, Self-Awareness and Resilience) and value-inspiring leadership skills.
Prof. Alan Deidun presented on behalf of the University of Malta delegation and he also highlighted how entrepreneurial skills and AI literacy are increasingly required in order to match the new and expanding realities of the blue economy in Europe. He invited the participants to look at the results, which illuminate the voices of both the doctoral alumni and blue sector employers across the alliance calling for more skills-based training and interpersonal empowerment in various professional settings. The presentation delivered also delved into the major challenges that our society is facing and how these challenges can be mitigated on the both European and global front.
Representatives at the forum also discussed how the SEA-EU Alliance can assist in delivering high-quality training within its partner institutions which contributes towards a Healthy Ocean and towards the objectives of the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To this end, SEA-EU recently endorsed the EU Commission's Mission for Healthy Seas and Waters (Mission Starfish) Charter.
The outcome of the Forum will feed into a SEA-EU Congress to be jointly hosted by the University of Parthenope and the University of Algarve in January 2024, where a considerable number (a minimum of 150) of associated partners - external to the SEA-EU Alliance - will be invited with the main aim to broaden the horizons and reach of this European Universities initiative. To this end, a SEA-EU Global Gateway Declaration has been formulated, detailing the SEA-EU vision which dovetails with broader European and global agendas. The same Declaration will be publicly shared through the SEA-EU website in the coming weeks.
