The 13th Annual General Assembly of the IAMU Expanding Frontiers - Challenges and Opportunities in Maritime Education and Training Challenges and Opportunities in Maritime Education and Competence Development - a comparative analysis of lessons learnt

This paper sheds light on Maritime Education and Competence Development which has been investigated in various studies, both within and outside Europe. However, the topic is under-researched and stil l in need of attention, in order to ensure that competences are aligned with technological advancements and the needs that exist in a contemporary maritime industry. It is furthermore paramount that these competences are developed in a manner so that it contributes to the further development of the industry as a whole, in order to maintain a competitive position in the global market. Based on low levels of Research and Development intensity within the EU in comparison to international competitors such as Japan, South Korea and the United States, The EU has committed efforts to 'lift the bar' on these levels in order to achieve the objective of The Lisbon Strategy and The Bologna Process. The individual Member States and the maritime industry are also called upon to contribute to these efforts in The European Maritime Strategy 2008-2018', in order to assist in accomplishing this objective . In relation to this , the paper highlights the importance of enhancing the following key factors: maritime know-how, competence development, trans-national collaboration and standardisation. Research programmes within the EU have sought to address the challenges that the industry faces from a European perspective, supporting the development of trans-national efforts and synergies to battle the problems. The European Commission has supported The Maritime Transport Sector through research programmes from both a general perspective and a more specific maritime perspective. The paper then discusses the cha llenges involved in "lifting the bar" and teases out the findings in previous and current EU projects and National studies that have sought to address these challenges in the search for optimising Maritime Education and Competence Development based on the key factors mentioned above. Among such projects and studies that have been conducted at an EU level is the EU project, "Northern Maritime University Network". With both national and EU funding is "The Danish Maritime Cluster" project, and finally outside the EU is the Asian project by Ahn and Mclean. 1 These projects will be presented and compared based on the key factors mentioned above and how these projects in practice enhance maritime education and training.