Inspire - Restorative Aquaculture
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.
Course information
- Level
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Beginner
- Dates
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From the 23rd September until the 25th October 2024
- Applications
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Open until the 10th of September (ONGOING APPLICATIONS ONLY)
About : A dynamic and supportive environment
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 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/
Advantages :
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
Learning Objectives
- LO1-Understand the aquaculture sector, specifically seaweed farming, finfish and shellfish farming methods and algal biotechnology and the societal impact this has on rural communities.
- LO2-Identify short and long-term future consequences of decisions involving different components of the food system.
- LO3-Translate innovations into feasible business solutions for the food sector and the wider Blue Economy.
- LO4-Think beyond boundaries, systematically explore and generate new ideas, responding to current and future challenges in the food system.
What will you achieve?
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Understand the aquaculture sector, including seaweed farming, finfish and shellfish farming methods and algae biotechnology.
- Identify short and long-term future consequences of decisions involving different components of the food system.
- Translate innovations into feasible business solutions for the food sector.
- Think beyond boundaries, and systematically explore and generate new ideas, responding to current and future challenges within the food system.
- Skills in business development and how to pitch innovative ideas.
Why choosing for this Course? : Jenny Black from the Inspire Restorative Aquaculture - Course Delivery Team says:
The EIT Inspire Restorative Aquaculture course is one of a kind.
Combining the teaching of Europe’s first and only dedicated Seaweed Industry teaching material for the Seaweed Academy with the aquaculture knowledge and research from SAMS, the Polish Institute of Technology, allows for a broad and current learning experience.
Held at the SAMS facility on the beautiful west coast of Scotland, this course allows for a practical commercial and research experience provided by the onsite seaweed nursery, seaweed farm, the Culture Collection of Algae and Protozoa, and our research aquarium.
Our course has brought together people of different backgrounds and encourages open and insightful conversations. Our aim is to provide a holistic and accessible overview of the aquaculture industry to and how it can be adapted to help restore our environment.”
Jenny Black, SAMS The Seaweed Academy, UK
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 25 people in 2024 so please apply early!
Career Opportunities : Developing a new generation of entrepreneurs and food innovators
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!
“I did enjoy the overall course, but i really liked the tours, both within SAMS and Seaweed academy”
“It was an incredible experience where I learned about aquaculture, which is central to our Beauty by the Sea initiative. Understanding where our ingredients come from and the methods behind sustainable farming was invaluable. The course went beyond seaweed, shellfish, and fish; it covered the broader scope of aquaculture, an industry rich in innovation and sustainability”
What you'll learn : Acquire a deep understanding of the Aquaculture production in Europe
Food systems
- Analyse the food system using a range of systems approaches to appraise current and future sustainability challenges.
- Implement innovative responses to address sustainability challenges in the food system.
Entrepeneurship
- Create opportunities for value creation
- Mobilise resources to create sustainable value for others
- Design and implement effective actions to deliver impact
Problem solving
- Appraise the problem space to identify current and future needs.
- Mobilise effective methodologies to generate new ideas.
- Appraise the validity of new ideas and co-create sustainable solutions.
Critical thinking
- Collect, analyse, interpret and report information to develop sustainable solutions to current and future challenges.
- Appraise unintended consequences of any course of action to devise ethical goals
Structure and Modules : A 3-week intensive programme
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/
The structure for 2024 is for: :
- Week 1 (online): Start Monday 23rd September; Tuesday 24thSeptember; 25th September 2024 (plus self study on CANVAS): Introduction to course online, with course content delivered from the SAMS (algae and biotech) and PAS (fisheries, IMTA) teams and with large input from the Inspire entrepreneurship spine team.
- Week 2 (in-person SAMS all week, online): 30th September – 4th October 2024: the delegates come to SAMS Seaweed Academy for the in-person training from Monday to Friday (seaweed, microalgae, shellfish, analytical biochemistry, rural society, IMTA, seagrass, blue economy, site visits). https://seaweedacademy.co.uk/
- Week 3 (online): Wednesday 9th October 2024 (plus self study on CANVAS): The last week will be online to finalise the business plans, communications and business pitching. Aquaculture Make-a-thon (online). Live Aquaculture Pitch Event with Prizes. Assessment. Input from all partners online.
- Final pitch: Friday 25th October 2024
The school ends with a final test. Successful participants will be granted a Certificate of Completion.
However, right after the school ends participants will have the opportunity to join the Inspire Impact competition, continue their learning, earn an additional certificate and compete for cash prizes (up to €4000).
The Inspire Impact course is free of charge for candidates who have satisfactorily completed any Inspire School.
More information about this competition will be shared soon!
Practical : What you need to know
Participation Fees
- Full price: 1089€ (including VAT)
Application Deadlines
- 2nd September 2024: at 17:00 (5pm) CET
Places are limited to 25 people.
The fee includes delivery of the course over the three weeks and certification. For the in-person course the fee includes refreshments and lunch during the day (9am to 5pm) and one course evening dinner midweek.
Please note that delegates need to arrange and pay for their own travel and accommodation to SAMS https://www.sams.ac.uk/ and for evening meals other than the one course dinner. You will also need to arrange your own visa or travel documentation and insurance if required to come into the UK. SAMS organisers will be able to advise on accommodation options once you have secured your place.
VAT is included in all the prices.
Applications clearly made solely using AI-Bot text generation and un-proof read will not be accepted and rejected.
Partners : In collaboration with
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