Level: Beginner
Course duration: 3 weeks
Start date: 6th November 2023 (online) and the course finish with the final pitch on 1st December 2023 (online). The in-person week, at Oban, UK, is from 20-24 November 2023.
Online and Oban, UK.
Language: English
Certificate of completion
Course information
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/
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.
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.
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.
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 2023 so please apply early!