October 2010

A free e-mail news service provided by AquaTT on European Education & Training in Aquaculture.
Please submit any relevant information for dissemination in the newsletter to news@aquatt.ie

This month as there has been so much activity AquaTT have decided to provide the Collaboration section separately to the main Training News newsletter.

Contents

Collaboration

• PESCALEX: Winner of i-Pad
• PESCALEX workshop, 18–20 October 2010, Pontevedra, Spain
• PESCALEX sustainability meeting, 30 November 2010, Istanbul, Turkey
• MarineTT exhibited at EurOcean 2010 Conference
• Aqua-RET2 workshop, 3rd International Conference and Exhibition on Ocean Energy, 6–8 October 2010, Bilbao, Spain
• SEAFARE progresses at partner meeting during AE2010 in Porto
• COEXIST partner meeting, 10-11 November in Hamburg, Germany
• AquaTT popular at AE2010 in Porto
• Aqua-tnet at AE2010 in Porto
• Vocational Aqualabs: Training for aquaculture researchers
  

Collaboration

PESCALEX: Winner of i-Pad

The PESCALEX project was represented at the recent Aquaculture Europe 2010 event in Porto 5th – 8th October. During the event the newly developed Diagnostic Tool (developed by AQUARK) was tested by 105 participants and one lucky participant walked away with a free i-Pad. The Diagnostic Tool has the capacity to facilitate communication between fish farmers and experts in a multi-lingual environment and will undoubtedly improve diagnostic capacity. The PESCALEX consortium would like to thank all participants and congratulate the lucky winner; Kathryn Morton from AquaBioTech Group, Malta.

PESCALEX workshop, 18–20 October 2010, Pontevedra, Spain

Twelve students representing Greece, Hungary, Turkey and Spain recently had the opportunity to participate in the PESCALEX 2 workshop held during 18th – 20th October at Instituto Galego de Formacion an Acuicultura (IGAFA),  Illa de Arousa, Pontevedra, Spain. The four teams competed against each other eagerly using the newly developed Diagnostic Tool and were scored on various criteria such as communication, speed and results. All teams successfully completed the tasks however, it was the Hungarian team who triumphed.

The students also had the opportunity to interact with industry representatives on the day after which they were brought on a guided tour of the IGAFA facilities by resident Spanish students. On the day there were various presentations made (Margaret Eleftheriou “PESCALEX II”, Lucia Fraga “CLIL Conference main conclusions”, Xabier San Isidro “Clil in Galicia”, Panos Christofilogiannis “PESCALEX Tool”, Carlos Zarza “The diagnosis way”) and the Diagnostic tool was showcased to the local Galician industry. The workshop was completed with a visit to the aquaculture training rafts where the students got a close up look at the species being produced on site at the Institute. The PESCALEX consortium would like to take this opportunity to thank Cetmar for their great organisation and IGAFA for the hosting of the event. For more information on the project please visit the website www.pescalex.org.

Photos (left to right): 1) Main: Group photo, 2) Hungarian team, 3) Turkish team, 4) Spanish team, 5) Greek team, 6) Margaret Eleftheriou presentation, 7) Group photo, 8) Trip to rafts and 9) IGAFA

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PESCALEX sustainability meeting, 30 November 2010, Istanbul, Turkey

The PESCALEX partners (AQUALEX Multimedia Consortium Ltd (IE), AQUARK (GR), HAKI (HU), CETMAR (ES), AquaTT (IE), University of Rize (TR) and the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Scotland (UK)) held the final meeting of the project in Istanbul, Turkey, to discuss ways and means of sustaining the project concept and its outputs. The PESCALEX Workshop held at the IGAFA aquaculture training centre in Galicia, Spain, on 18-19th October had demonstrated the viability of the multilingual PESCALEX Diagnostic Tool for Fish disease in turbot. The workshop had also included a number of industry representatives from turbot farming in Galicia, who were also impressed with its potential usefulness.

As a result, the PESCALEX partners have decided that there are several ways forward to ensure that the PESCALEX Opensource Multilingual Fish Health Toolset not only survives, but will prosper. It has been decided that funds will be sought to hold an international conference to promote the Toolset to a much wider audience, using possibly both versions of the PESCALEX Language Games, with carefully chosen multilingual student teams to show just how versatile the integrated learning package can be, in terms both of content and language learning. The further development of the Diagnostic Tool as a cellphone application will be undertaken by its developer, AQUARK (GR).

MarineTT exhibited at EurOcean 2010 Conference

Marine scientists and policy makers from across Europe gathered in Ostend (Belgium) at the EurOCEAN 2010 Conference to discuss the future priorities for European marine research in the coming decade. They unanimously agreed that the Seas and Oceans are one of the Grand Challenges for the 21st Century. This message is the headline of the Ostend Declaration, which will act as a guideline to address the grand challenges and opportunities facing Europe’s seas and oceans in the coming decade.

AquaTT were well represented at the event and gave inputs towards the Declaration under the Research to Knowledge section of the Declaration.
AquaTT also exhibited its services and initiatives at the Conference, in particular the MarineTT project, which steps up to the challenge to unlock the knowledge potential of previously funded research in the marine area.

For further information on the MarineTT project please visit the project website www.marinett.eu

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Aqua-RET2 workshop, 3rd International Conference and Exhibition on Ocean Energy, 6 – 8 October 2010, Bilbao, Spain

The Aqua-RET 2 (www.aquaret.com) workshop was recently held at the 3rd International Conference and Exhibition on Ocean Energy on 5th October in the Bilbao Exhibition Centre, Spain. During the workshop the members of the consortium presented findings from our needs analysis of the sector and a draft functional map of competences needed to work in the marine renewable sectors. The Aqua-RET project was also well received in the exhibition centre where visitors received free copies of the printed Aqua-RET posters.

If you would like to download a digital copy of the Aqua-RET posters or avail of the Aqua-RET resources please visit the project website www.aquaret.com

The SEAFARE project, a European Union Atlantic Area Transnational Programme focussing  on sustainable and environmentally friendly aquaculture for the Atlantic region of Europe, held its 2nd partner meeting during the AE2010 in Porto (5 October 2010). After a delayed start due to administrative issues, the project is now well under way, and the several working groups presented their activities and developments. In addition, an open information meeting was held on the opening day of the AE2010, inviting all AE2010 visitors to get to know the project.

SEAFARE is designed to provide SMEs and public authorities in Europe with tools for sustainable and environmentally friendly aquaculture. It will strengthen links between researchers and industry, and influence policy development at regional and national levels.

For more information, please contact project coordinator Mr Dan Lee, on +44 1248 388603 or email d.lee@bangor.ac.uk.

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COEXIST partner meeting, 10-11 November in Hamburg, Germany

The COEXIST project, supported by the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), addressing the sustainable use of Europe’s seas and oceans, will hold its next project partner meeting in Hamburg on 10-11 November 2010.

COEXIST aims to develop a roadmap for integration of aquaculture and fisheries in the European coastal zone. With the participation of 13 institutions from 10 European countries, the partnership will provide ecosystem modelling tools to support decision-makers on maritime matters when it comes to managing our maritime space. Several case studies will be undertaken in separate maritime regions, demonstrating conditions and combinations of activities of European coastal areas of particular importance for aquaculture and coastal fisheries.

The North Sea Case Study will get specific focus during a dedicated workshop prior to the project meeting.

For more information, please check the project website on www.coexistproject.eu or contact Emma Bello Gomez at emma@aquatt.ie

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AquaTT popular at AE2010 in Porto

AquaTT had a busy time during the Aquaculture Europe 2010 event in Porto in October this year. AquaTT presented its many projects and services, all related to European marine. Educational projects include the PESCALEX2 project for which an iPad competition was held, Aqua-tnet – the biggest educational network in its field in Europe, VALLA (Validation of All Lifelong Learning in Aquaculture), Aqua-RET 2, and Vocational Aqualabs. Ongoing EC FP7 projects include MarineTT, COEXIST, AquaInnova and AQUAMED. AquaTT are also invloved in Seafare under the Atlantic Area Programme.

AquaTT is an international foundation which provides project management and training services to support the sustainable development of Europe's aquatic resources. AquaTT traditionally worked in the areas of mobility, short vocational training courses, and the development of early-stage researchers and is now broadening out into the areas of marine, energy, food and environment.

For more information on AquaTT please visit our website www.aquatt.ie

Photo: Emma Bello Gomez (AquaTT Project Officer), Marieke Reuver (AquaTT Programme Manager) and Richard Fitzgerald (AquaTT Director)

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Aqua-tnet at AE2010 in Porto

Aqua-tnet, the Thematic Network in the field of Aquaculture, Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management, was present at the Aquaculture Europe 2010 event in Porto in October this year. The education network, funded under the European Commission Lifelong Learning Programme, is the most comprehensive for the aquaculture, fisheries and aquatic resource management sectors in Europe.

During a special forum for students and young aquaculturists, organised by the Student Group of the EAS, AquaTT Programme Manager Marieke Reuver presented “Aquaculture Education in Europe towards 2020”, in which Aqua-tnet was highlighted as supporting the establishment of the European Higher Education Area. It was commented that current educational reforms in Europe are as hot as lady Gaga, and very necessary as well; in the decade up to 2020 European higher education has a vital contribution to make in realising a Europe of knowledge. Aqua-tnet supports this by providing a variety of services to students, as well as to teachers, industry and research.

For more information, please check www.aquatnet.com or contact Marieke Reuver at marieke@aquatt.ie

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Vocational Aqualabs: Training for aquaculture researchers

The overall aim of Vocational Aqualabs is to improve VET systems in the European Aquaculture sector to ensure researchers receive continual professional development training in generic skills which will a) result in increasing the quality, attractiveness and security of research career pathways b) increase the relevancy of researchers and their research to the sector c) improve knowledge transfer to industry for exploitation contributing to a sustainable sector in Europe.

The Vocational Aqualabs consortium recently carried out a needs analysis which aims to identify the key generic skills which are required by aquaculture researchers. Some of the top priorities identified by researchers and stakeholders include entrepreneurship, scientific writing, project management and grant applications. The consortium are now using these results to design training courses. For more information on the project please visit www.aqualabs.eu

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AquaTT devised "TRAINING NEWS", a free monthly e-newsletter that serves as an important communication channel for education and training opportunities for the Aquaculture, Fisheries and related Maritime sectors in Europe. It provides information on education and training developments, upcoming events, opportunities for collaboration, job vacancies and student activities. All Training News are archived at http://www.aquatt.ie/ AquaTT welcomes any feedback regarding content, presentation and user-friendliness of the newsletter. Please forward this mail to any colleagues that may be interested. Please submit relevant information for dissemination to news@aquatt.ie

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