Developing entrepreneurial skills and design thinking. Perhaps not the first competencies you would link to maritime professionals. However, times are changing. Technology and digitalization are transforming the shipping industry. And as both the industry itself as EU regulations set new environmental goals for the sector also green shipping is emerging as a key trend. At the same time, new maritime sectors arrive, such as coastal & environmental protection and deep-sea mining.
Working in this changed maritime field requires a flexible attitude. A lot of work processes have not yet been fully thought out or implemented. It is also expected that the seafarer of the future will have a lot of contact with suppliers who bring innovations on board, but also ashore. Direct contact with suppliers requires an entrepreneurial mindset from seafarers.
A changing professional field goes hand in hand with a change in education. To be able to respond as effectively as possible to the innovations it is important that seafarers learn the right skills. The TEAMS project aims to equip students with entrepreneurial skills and design thinking (a method to solve very complex problems) in projects. Real-life cases from the maritime professional field is the main teaching tool to be used in the Teams project.
Three European maritime schools participate in the project; the Hogere Zeevaartschool in Antwerp, Munster Technological Institute in Cork, and STC Group in Rotterdam. JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä is affiliated with the project because the Tiimiakatemia method they have developed offers a practical approach to coach students in entrepreneurial skills and design thinking. Finally, the branch organization Netherlands Maritime Technology and start-up accelerator PortXL joined the TEAMS project because they have good connections with the maritime industry. Their role is to provide maritime students with real cases from the professional field.
