MariTeam
Module 2
Blue Economy
Welcome to my Remote Professional Practice website !
Many professionals working in a marine environment do have a non-marine background. In many emerging blue economies, there is a need for well-skilled people that also have a good understanding of the ocean. Raising ocean awareness in the maritime industry can benefit the environment, the economy and the society. Until now no online curriculum exists that can be taken by marine professionals.
For six weeks, I worked from home with the Marine Training Office at Ghent University. This Office manages the Marine Training Platform which is a portal that gathers a lot of information on programs and courses all around the world linked to the marine and maritime sectors.
My role as an intern was to design and implement an online module in which the professionals working in a marine environment that do not have a marine background can receive good and profound knowledge on the ocean's influence in their lives, as well as their influence on the ocean.
This online course, called MariTeam, has been developed in collaboration with two other IMBRSea students and is composed of three modules.
The Team
Arnaud Boulenger
Hey! That's me!
Who am I?
My name is Arnaud Boulenger and I'm from Belgium.
I'm a first year master student in the IMBRSea program, a joint Master program organized by ten leading European universities in the field of marine sciences. My specialization track is #Conservation and is focused on the assessment of anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems and the implementation of restoration and conservation initiatives.
My main interests are restoration of marine habitats and the development of sustainable and integrated aquaculture to feed the growing population in a sustainable way.
Check out my curricula on Linkedin to learn more about my past experiences!
The Modules
Ocean Literacy
Contemporary and Emerging Threats in the Ocean
Through the three different modules, we emphasized on the crucial importance to take actions towards the ocean.
I have been working on the content and technical development of the second module focussed on the Blue Economy.
What is the Blue Economy ?
“Who said economy? Get out, you dirty capitalist!” you may think.
Relax!
That’s not just another economic principle which aims only to create profit without environmental considerations.
The United Nations defines the Blue Economy as:
“ An economy that comprises a range of economic sectors and related policies that together determine whether the use of ocean resources is sustainable. An important challenge of the blue economy is to understand and better manage the many aspects of oceanic sustainability, ranging from sustainable fisheries to ecosystem health to preventing pollution .
Secondly, the blue economy challenges us to realize that the sustainable management of ocean resources will require collaboration across borders and sectors through a variety of partnerships, and on a scale that has not been previously achieved. This is a tall order, particularly for Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries who face significant limitations. "
After days of literature research,...
I have been able to design and implement a nine-hour course within a Moodle platform on the Ocean Teacher website. My module was composed of nine units which presented the different sectors of the Blue Economy, their environmental impacts, and some innovative solutions to reduce the anthropogenic impacts those sectors have on the marine environment.
Fast Facts
The worldwide ocean economy is valued at around US$1.5 trillion per year.
350 million jobs world-wide are linked to fisheries.
Aquaculture is the fastest growing food sector and provides about 50% of fish for human consumption.
Side products of desalination plants damage the marine ecosystems.
Wind turbines foundations may act as artificial reefs.
Algae hold a great potential to be used as carbon-neutral fuels and bioplastic.
Do you want to learn more?
The online course will be available in a later stage on the Ocean Teacher platform after approval of the content by marine experts. A certification option for those who have fully completed and passed the course will also be implemented.
Can't wait?
Check the syllabus of the course!
Reflection on my Remote Professional Practice
It was a completely different experience compared to the work I have done before. Despite some difficulties, most of them due to the remotely version of this internship, I found a lot of excitement to start the project from scratch and to design entirely on my own a full module of an online course dedicated to employees of marine companies. I hope that this first base will really serve as a course and will be used in the future by professionals working in the marine environment.
Challenges
Remote work: Working from home was difficult as there were a lot of distractions around me and it was difficult to stay focused and work 40 efficient hours per week. As I am an outdoor person, I found it also exceedingly difficult to spend all this time working in front of my computer.
Time management: Planning and organizing my own work to meet deadlines imposed by the project.
Personnal Improvements
Communication and team work: It was particularly important to ensure the creation of a consistent course and that we do not talk about the same topics, but also to share ideas on content proposal between members.
Autonomy: I was solely responsible for the creation of the module on the Blue Economy and I could not rely on anybody’s work. I had to take initiatives and be creative to achieve this course designing and implementation by the end of the sixth week.
Science communication: It has also highly improved through my six weeks work of conversion from complex and technical literature to an easily understandable course content.
Literature review: It was a time-consuming activity that I slightly ameliorate during this internship. It was sometimes quite challenging to gather information on a specific topic and perseverance was required.
Skills Learned
Online course designing: A lot of skills around online course designing have been learned. I learned the use of the Moodle platform, a free and open-source learning management system used for e-learning projects.
Project management: It was the first time that I was in charge of a full project from the beginning of it. The supervisor was providing broad guidelines for the course development but it was my responsibility to decide on the content, structure and design.
Conclusion
In the currently ecological crisis we are facing, I think educating people on the impacts their life has on the environment is important to move towards a sustainable future. I see education and outreach as important components of the scientific process and I am planning to incorporate these elements into my career in the future, as principal or side activity.