Inspire - Restorative Aquaculture

The aim of our proposed INSPIRE programme is to provide an overview of aquaculture production in Europe, showcase the worldwide opportunities, outline the current barriers and facilitators to production; and encourage talented recruits and aspiring entrepreneurs into the sector and to create innovative solutions to address the challenges to production. The programme also aims to facilitate stakeholder engagement and partnerships through, for example: academic lectures, industry speakers; site visits; and other networking and value-added activities.

The Inspire Restorative Aquaculture Course encourages talented recruits to create innovative solutions, which increase the productivity and profitability of the aquaculture sector. The course will provide training and theory in seaweed farming, rural social science, finfish, shellfish, algae biology, culturing, growth, molecular and metabolite analysis; entrepreneurial content and support to develop innovative solutions and business propositions for the aquaculture sector; and a final pitch event with prizes up for grabs! The programme also aims to facilitate stakeholder engagement and partnerships through access to academics, leading companies in the industry and startups working to overcome challenges in the aquaculture sector at the live online events.

The course is led by The Seaweed Academy at SAMS, UK in partnership with the University of Cambridge and the Polish Academy of Science. The Seaweed Academy is the UK’s only dedicated seaweed industry facility offering a complete package of training, education, and business development – a one-stop-shop for supporting expansion and skills development for the seaweed aquaculture industry.

The courses will be in-person at SAMS in Oban in the West Coast Highlands, the beautiful sea-food capital of Scotland, with some content delivered online before and after the in-person event. https://www.sams.ac.uk/

This INSPIRE Course focusing on Sustainable Aquaculture will be a 3-week intensive programme which will provide you with:

• Provide introductory training and theory in seaweed farming, finfish, shellfish and algae biology, culturing, growth and molecular and metabolite analysis, under laboratory and small to large scale growth facilities.
• Outline the complex set of economic, environmental, technical, welfare, political and market issues which impact the aquaculture sector, from a stakeholder's perspective.
• Encourage students to develop innovative solutions to increase the sector's productivity and profitability.
• Intensive training in business development and idea creation

Our vision for this school is to:

• Provide an introduction to food security and aquaculture production in Europe
• Outline the current barriers and facilitators to food and aquaculture production
• Provide introductory training and theory on culturing methods
• Deliver training on algal biotechnology – incorporating both micro and macro algae
• Outline aquaculture governance and society in aquaculture and marine management

Our Sustainable Aquaculture Inspire Course is designed for individuals that are passionate to transform our food system into a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system for all. No formal qualifications are needed, but attendance is made on application where delegates needing to describe their reasons for attending the courses. In particular, we are looking for aspiring entrepreneurs with a keen interest in the aquaculture and the marine sector, who would love to come up with innovative potential business ideas to revolutionise the industry especially those within the EU and EU and EIT Food associated countries. Ideally, we are seeking Masters Students, PhD students, Posts-Docs, young professionals or aspiring entrepreneurs interested in aquaculture. We are interested in individuals from multidisciplinary backgrounds to work in teams to come up with innovative ideas e.g. Marine Biology, Aquaculture, Food Sciences, Engineering, Business / Marketing, Informatics and Computational Science, among others.

Places are limited to 20 people in 2024 so please apply early!

The programme aims to develop a new generation of entrepreneurs and food innovators within the aquaculture sector with a focus on the algal and fisheries sector, which will be equipped to shape a new kind of food system that is innovative, resilient, and sustainable. Inspire offers outstanding courses and opportunities, which empower students, trainees and professional experts with innovation and entrepreneurship skills tailored to the needs of the European innovation system. Inspire envisions to grow talents and stimulate the ability to recognise, develop and act on entrepreneurial opportunities in a range of organisational settings, and to consider entrepreneurship as a possible career path.

Please let us know if this is the start of your business venture in the sector and we can advise on how EIT Food can help you develop this!

This INSPIRE Course focusing on Aquaculture will be a 3-week intensive programme which provides training and theory in seaweed farming, finfish, shellfish and algae biology, culturing, growth and molecular and metabolite analysis. The programme will also outline the complex set of economic, environmental, technical, welfare, social, political and market issues which impact the aquaculture sector, from a stakeholder’s perspective; and moreover, it will encourage students to develop innovative solutions to increase the sectors productivity and profitability. These are all within the following modules:

• Module 1 – The Food System: Challenges in the food system and the role of aquaculture in taking pressure off over-exploited and plateauing wild fisheries and feeding a growing population
• Module 2 – Aquaculture Production Systems – Aquatic Animals: Introduction to finfish and shellfish culturing methods
• Module 3 – Aquaculture Production Systems – Algal biotechnology: Incorporating both micro and macro (seaweeds) algae and how they are involved in the sustainable aquaculture pipeline. Specifically within the Seaweed Academy: Seaweed biology and farming: The process, Bottlenecks, Action & considerations at each stage, Biology, Accreditation, Licensing, Traceability, Sustainability, Species, Design, Economics, Market and Farming processes. This module will include; Introduction to seaweed farming (Introduction, Species identification, Traceability/sustainability), Economics (Business plan, Mapping economics of sector), Licensing (Crown, Social), Nursery (Requirement, Considerations, Methods), Farming (Monitoring, Maintenance, Farm design), Cultivation (Practical farm visit, Harvest), Aquaculture (Blue Carbon, IMTA system), Processing (Primary, Secondary) and Market (Drivers, Considerations).
• Module 4 – Aquaculture governance and society: Covering barriers and facilitators to aquaculture production from a stakeholders perspective; governance in aquaculture and marine management legal and regulatory frameworks; public perception, social licence and behaviour; and engagement, communication and marketing
• Module 5 – Entrepreneurship content: To facilitate the development of innovative solutions to increase the productivity and profitability of the sector.

More information on previous The Seaweed Academy courses and location can be found here: https://seaweedacademy.co.uk/