Klaipeda to Hold the Blue Growth Leaders Academy

Klaipeda University, the maritime cluster coordinated by Klaipeda Science and Technology Park, and Klaipeda ID are inviting business professionals and advanced university students to a 10-month long informal international education program, called Blue Growth Leaders Academy. The program will provide knowledge and practical experience in the fields of sustainable and cleantech, innovation, and other strategic fields.

The program will bring together internationally acclaimed lectors from abroad and provide economic knowledge that will help businesses to gain a competitive advantage. Leaders, various specialists, as well as promising students, will gain new competencies, which will be useful while looking for a new niche, creating innovative products or services, and striving for more sustainable utilization of maritime resources.

The concept of Blue Growth in the European context is gaining prominence, quickly starting to affect various economic and social mechanisms. Lithuania is not being left behind and Klaipeda has a unique opportunity to turn Blue Growth into a tangible benefit, because many of the industries related to this concept, like shipping, shipbuilding, and tourism, either have a deep tradition or are being quickly developed in the region.

“Even right now, business and higher education centers in our city surprise with their achievements in this area,” said Alina Šoparė, the Education Project Manager for Klaipeda ID. “To become a leading city in the sustainable maritime sector, we have to strengthen the competencies of our students and working professionals, which is precisely what this program aims to do.”

According to Artūras Razbadauskas, a Rector at Klaipeda University, the crisis brought on by the pandemic did not impede the progress of this project. “Quite the opposite, the situation showed that it is very important to clearly identify the areas, which will help to create the highest added value,” he said. “Our university, which is part of EU-CONEXUS (European University for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability), aims to become a center that collects progressive ideas, with the new program allowing them to be analyzed and directed towards practical application.”

Klaipeda has declared the goal to seek sustainable utilization of resources from the sea, strengthening of competencies relevant to smart industries, bio and cleantech, and other ambitious goals in its Klaipeda 2030 developmental strategy. The hope is that the Blue Growth Leaders Academy, which is unprecedented both in Lithuania and in neighboring countries, will help Klaipeda to attract a new generation of blue economy leaders, which will contribute to Klaipeda becoming more prosperous in the future.

It is expected that the knowledge gained by the program participants will strengthen business positions, ensure a clearer dialog with representatives from the business and public sectors, and encourage the development of useful partnerships.

“The maritime cluster aims to ensure access to the knowledge, which enables opening new business niches and optimal utilization of the potential Klaipeda has, so the idea of the Blue Growth Leaders Academy was exhaustively discussed and grown with the input from representatives of Klaipeda’s essential industries,” said Andrius Sutnikas, the development manager of the Klaipeda Science and Technology Park. “The cluster members who represent businesses stated that they support the idea, find its direction to be correct, the themes of the project — relevant.”

The lectors participating in the program are a specifically gathered team of experts, internationally acclaimed scientists and practitioners from Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, whose lecture themes will touch upon the port and shipping, blue biotechnologies, shipbuilding, aquaculture, surf energy, sea, and shore tourism.

Blue Growth Leaders Academy will provide the opportunity to educate yourself by improving in innovation and change management. The participants will receive the most important information based on the current realities of the sector, will be introduced to European and global trends in various blue growth sectors, which are drawing the picture of the future right now.

Blue Growth Leaders Academy will accept participants from business and other organizations in Klaipeda and Lithuania overall, specialists from various sectors, who are or plan to work in the blue growth sector. Students from latter bachelor’s studies at Klaipeda University, as well and Master’s and Doctorate students interested in the subjects or researching blue growth can also join the Academy.

In 2020-2021, the Blue Growth Leaders Academy will accept 50 participants.

The academy will last 10 months. The Blue Growth Leaders Academy will arrange its timetable to make sure that participants can manage their involvement and active professional activities at the same time.

The best candidates will receive scholarships from the Klaipeda University Future Fund. The 2,000 EUR scholarships will be handed out by the selection jury, based on candidates’ motivation and achievements.