MARE PROJECT MEETING AND WORKSHOP ON THE ENTERPRISE-ACADEMY CONNECTION ON MARINE COASTAL AND DELTA SUSTAINABILITY

The "Marine Coastal and Delta Sustainability for South East Asia (MARE)" project sets goals to promote sustainable governance and management of coastal, delta & marine, socio-ecological systems in Malaysia, Viet Nam and adjacent waters through tertiary education. MARE is part of the Erasmus+ program of the European Union (EU) with the participation of 13 member institutions, including Vietnam Maritime University. The main coordinator of this project is the University of Bremen, Germany with the implementation period of 3 years, from 2020 to 2023.

The MARE project assists its member universities in setting up online conferences and classes based on the interactive networking among partners and conducting pilot E-learning courses, which ensures popularization of learning materials and international cooperation on education. In addition, MARE gives opportunities to revise and upgrade BSc, MSc & PhD programs related to coastal, delta & marine ecosystems in partner institutions. Furthermore, improving the ability and skills of officials, lecturers, IT technicians, postgraduate students through international workshops, training courses and summer schools is one of the priorities of this project. An open platform will be founded to foster academic exchange, shared experimental facilities and joint scientific research with a dream of the long-lasting efficiency of the post-project development.

From 15th to 17th February, 2023, Vietnam Maritime University is honoured to hold the MARE project meetings and discussion on the enterprise-academy connection on marine coastal and delta sustainability. The workshop has participation of many famous domestic and international universities and a large number of enterprises in the maritime field. In the opening speech, the University's leaders expressed their deep interest in international cooperation activities in general and the MARE project in particular. This affirms that Vietnam Maritime University is always a reliable bridge for international educational exchanges, promotes the modern information technologies in training and enhances environmental protection and sustainable social development.

During the sessions, representatives of the universities presented their experiences and realities in business connection at their own universities, which helps to create an overall and comprehensive picture in order to make effective orientations in the coming time . In addition, the parties discussed the implementation of online courses on sustainable development to optimize the use of equipment of MARE project and to access modern educational methods. On the side of companies, Mr. Joris Van Tienen, Director of Damen Song Cam Shipyard emphasized the importance of maritime institutions in providing high-quality human resources and hoped for a brighter future of sustainable development.

MARE meeting and workshop have contributed to further tightening the relationship among members of the MARE project and strengthening cooperation with enterprises. As a leading educating and training institution in the maritime field and an official member of MARE, Vietnam Maritime University would like to raise awareness and fosters the quality of teaching and researching on marine & coastal management and sustainable development, which have a great contribution to the implementation of strategic goals by 2030 - The Vietnam Maritime University will become a center for training highly qualified human resources, scientific researching and technology transfering of the Asia-Pacific region.