Project Partners

The Regions and Boats

THE HISTORY OF OUR RICH BOAT BUILDING PAST

Historically the 2 Seas area (the English Channel and the North Sea) made a solid contribution to help shape both the economy and society of the regions along its coastline: the skills that evolved were largely similar due to a long maritime history of working and trading together.

The maritime legacy is represented throughout the 2 Seas regions by a range of historical and distinctive ships and boats. It is highly valued by both authorities and residents; a major attraction for visitors to the area. In 2007 the Traditional Maritime Skills project was initiated by the Province of Zeeland and it became a strategic priority to maintain the regions’ maritime heritage.

The Province together with the regional vocational training centre ROC Zeeland investigated the possibility of recording boat building skills and creating vocational training programmes. It was clear this solution to preserve the 2 Seas maritime heritage was needed for the long-term future and that crossborder collaboration would be the key to the project’s success.

WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE TOOLS CREATED?

  • Regional and local authorities responsible for maritime cultural heritage and economic development policies
  • Institutes for maritime training and education
  • Organisations involved in maintenance and preservation of historical ships and boats
  • Organisations representing segments of ship and boat building and other marine industries
  • Organisations responsible for development of the workforce

THIS WAY OF PRESERVING OUR PAST TO DEVELOP OUR FUTURE THROUGHOUT EUROPE CONTRIBUTES TO THE FOLLOWING POLICIES

Regional: The Province of Zeeland (NL) has made safeguarding maritime heritage a prominent aspect in the region’s cultural policy. The Province is encouraging cooperation between the public sector and knowledge institutes emphasising the socio-economic opportunities currently available in the marine industries.

Regional: The Province of East-Flanders project is aiming to increase employability by up-skilling the workforce through vocational training and increase collaboration between boat building enterprises.

Regional: Traditional boat building plays a key role in Cornwall’s heritage and economy. Surrounded by 433miles of coastline, the County has around 5,000 moorings, is home to thousands of boat owners and in Cornwall over 14,000 jobs are involved with the Marine sector. The preservation of skills that have shaped the economy for centuries is therefore vitally important for future generations. The Traditional Maritime Skills project’s new virtual learning environment will be a platform to attrat young interest in the industry and train the future workforce.

Regional & National UK policies are supporting the development of training and learning initiatives through the use if knowledge to up-skill workforce and improve productivity of companies.

EU Level: A contribution to the Lisbon strategy will be met through delivering skills and tools that increase the competitiveness of the boat building sector in the participating regions.