SEA-EU Governing Week at the University of Gdańsk

The most important deliberations of the SEA-EU Governing Week at the University of Gdańsk came to an end. The authorities of the European Universities of the Seas and the representatives of the alliance’s units met on the 29th of June in the Library of the University of Gdańsk to discuss previous actions and plan the future of SEA-EU 2.0. During the meeting, the new visual identity of the alliance, the report of Ports and Cities Council, and the summation of the EDLab project concerning opening joined university course were presented.

– Creating alliances is neither obvious nor simple. Each of our partner universities certainly signed a lot of agreements of cooperation with many different academies. The University of Gdańsk also fulfills such agreements, as they are valuable initiatives enriching many aspects of its activity – said Rector of the University of Gdańsk prof. Piotr Stepnowski – However, the cooperation we started almost 4 years ago within the SEA-EU alliance is truly exceptional – it allowed  us to take actions in various areas, such as reasearch, education, the development of internationalising, or workshops for students, researchers, and – for the first time in the history of University of Gdańsk – administrative workers.

Special guests of the last session of SEA-EU Governing Week were representatives of Pomeranian local governments. Karolina Lipińska, Deputy Director of the Department of Economic Development of the Marshal’s Office of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, pointed out the important role the University of Gdańsk plays for the region in the matters of energy and digital transformation.

– We realise the importance of the development of higher education as it is a warrant of sustainable socio-economic development. I am convinced that this new project will result in promoting and development of our cities, universities, and sports – said Agnieszka Owczarczak, the Chairwoman of the Gdańsk City Council.

Next, the minutes from April’s meeting were approved, and the General Coordinator of the SEA-EU,  prof. Fidel Echevarría from the University of Cádiz, presented the previous action of the alliance since the beginning of the second phase (from February of the current year til today). He paid special attention to the new visual identity of the consortium, the SEA-EU commitment to sustainable development objectives, and the Blue Economy Observatory.

Laura Howard from the University of Cádiz talked about the EDLab initiative, which engaged not only SEA-EU partners, but also members of other European universities’ alliances, including Arqus, ENLIGHT, and EUTOPIA.. The objective of the four consortiums is further work on the joined university course, and introducing it mainly in Italy, France, Portugal, and Spain.

The report on the progress within particular working packages of ReSEArch-EU was presented. Between February and June 2023, SEA-INNOVATE HUB was started as part of the project, as well as pilot actions such as Transformation Lab, or Kiel Market Place.

Baltic Sea & SPace Cluster participated in the Kiel Market Place, as the business partner SEA EU.

– Poland has innovative potential in the production of green industrial systems and zero-emission ships. Polish companies and universities can appear even in such a strong team as maritime clusters from Norway, Croatia and Poland. The essence is team positioning on international markets, offering comprehensive projects and processes. Innovative green products and processes are expected from the Scandinavian and Adriatic markets, as well as the North Sea and Baltic Sea markets. Demand for zero-emission ships is growing dynamically –  informed President Grzybowski.

The Baltic Sea and Space Cluster has established the Baltic ZEV Innovation HUB, which has the potential to build zero-emission ships. The hub is coordinated by the Crist shipyard, and the cooperation is between Nauta Shipyard, ASE Technology Group, TSG Polska and the Cador Consulting design office. Cador is the coordinator of Baltic ICT & AI HUB.

Information and solutions of the Smart Port and Smart Shipping was presented by Dr. Malgorzata Bielenia, University of Gdansk, Institute of Maritime Transport and Seaborne Trade.

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