International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 2
Number 4
December 2008
429
Participation of Polish Maritime Educational
Institutions in Implementing Ideas of the EU
Green Paper
A. Walczak
Maritime University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland
ABSTRACT: This article undertakes issues included in the Green Paper project on a future maritime policy of
the European Union. Emphasis is put on basic features of this study that indicate the need of a holistic
approach to the maritime policy, instead of sectoral approach practiced so far.
This author presents and evaluates one of the major problems concerning the human factor in the initiative,
namely the role of maritime staff education, proper employment policy and participation in scientific research.
Author’s view on and proposals of Poland’s participation in the development and implementation of the
Green Paper ideas are presented.
1 INTRODUCTIONS
The Green Paper is a project aimed at discussion on
the future of the maritime policy of the European
Union. The discussion in Poland was opened on 12
October 2006 in Szczecin. Talks and debates are in
progress in the other EU member states.
All problems lying within the whole of the
maritime policy of the Community will be tackled.
The policy consists of the following issues:
1. New approach to problems of EU maritime policy.
2. Retaining Europe’s leadership in sustainable
maritime development.
2.1 a competitive maritime industry;
2.2 the importance of the marine environment for
the sustainable use of our marine resources;
2.3 remaining at the cutting edge of knowledge
and technology;
2.4 innovation under changing circumstances;
2.5 developing Europe’s maritime skills and
expanding sustainable maritime employment;
2.6 clustering;
3. Maximizing quality of life in coastal regions, i.e.:
3.1 the increasing attraction of coastal areas as a
place to live and work;
3.2 adapting to coastal risks;
3.3 developing coastal tourism;
3.4 managing the life/sea interface;
4. Providing the tools to manage our relations with
the oceans;
4.1 data at the service of multiple activities;
4.2 spatial planning for a growing maritime
economy;
4.3 making the most of financial support of
coastal regions;
5. Maritime governance
5.1 policy making within the EU;
5.2 the offshore activities of governments;
5.3 international rules for global activities;
5.4 taking account of geographical realities.
6. Reclaiming Europe’s maritime heritage and
reaffirming Europe’s maritime identity.
430
7. The way forward – the consultation process.
This extensive project aims at the following:
− sustainable development of the EU strategy,
intended to provide for mutual reinforcement of
economic growth, social welfare and environment
protection;
− need for developing ‘EU maritime policy’ which
will consider the use of the seas and oceans in a
holistic manner, as an integrated organic system,
not from a sectoral viewpoint where separate
decisions are made in various branches of the
maritime economy.
2 THE MARITIME POLICY OF
THE EUROPEAN UNION
The EU is a particular federation that has a broad
view on the implementation of sustainable
development making use of the seas and oceans.
EU sees opportunities for undertaking joint new
challenges in each sector of the maritime economy,
attempting at the integration of all efforts aiming at
enhancing the effects of these efforts in such areas as
sea transport, offshore industry, including offshore
power production, fishing, marine environment and
at strengthening and expanding relations between the
various maritime sectors. This approach integrating
our efforts in the set direction will allow to avoid
contradictory decisions, adverse effects for the
marine environment and will restrict the rivalry
between various branches of marine activities.
The realization of these goals of the maritime
policy has to be supported by scientific research,
new technologies and innovations. Therefore, it has
to be based on human competence, skills and
qualifications, on people with extensive knowledge
and experience, aware of their own role and
responsibility for appropriate advice and decisions.
The Lisbon strategy guidelines include
recommenda-tions of stimulating growth of
investments in the human knowledge and skills.
The strategy also expresses care of the marine
environment, sustaining and developing the
resources of seas and oceans that the whole maritime
activities are based on. Finally, there is a conclusion
that we people, in the light of the present status quo,
have to undertake preparation of a realistic program
as well as a Thematic Strategy for the Marine
Environment, simply because this environment is
global one and calls for unification of those
regulations in force that set legal framework for
effective management of extremely wide scope.
These regulations have to address the EU and
descend through national, regional and local
management levels reaching every human being.
That is why proposals mentioned in the
introduction include a wide variety of problems. One
problem of the EU that this author attempts to focus
on is the participation of Poland in shaping the EU’s
maritime education policy in relation to what the
Green Paper sets forth.
Of our particular interest here is the problem
identified in Chapter 2.5: Developing Europe’s
maritime skills and expanding sustainable maritime
employment. Three issues have been distinguished
as research problems to be solved:
− how can the decline in the number of Europeans
entering certain marine professions be reversed
and the safety and attractiveness of jobs ensured?
− how can better working conditions, wages and
safety be combined with sectoral competitiveness?
− how can the quality of education, training and
certification be assured?
The youth of today seem to be less interested in
maritime jobs, which is due to a number of factors.
First of all, strong competitiveness in shipping forces
shipowners to offer salaries lower than those of
land-based occupations, therefore Europeans do not
find them attractive. Besides, it should be
emphasized that work on board ship brings more
risks of life, injuries, health problems – particularly
in the fishing industry. Moreover, seafarers suffer
from isolation from their families over a period of
time. They have to have specific physical and mental
qualities due to changing weather and climatic
conditions. No wonder there is a decreasing trend in
the number of seafarers, with progressing aging of
European ship’s officers being another problem. At
the same time the number of ships and relevant
quality requirements are on the rise. Those seafarers
who decide to give up sailing for various reasons
such as health or family problems usually find it
difficult to get a permanent job on land.
Seeking solutions, the Green Paper proposes
actions aimed at:
− creating conditions for job mobility between
sectors, by adopting and implementing the
concept of maritime clusters;
− encouraging alternative employment to fishermen
and women;
− using UE funds for the management of changes,
for facilitating retraining and professional
reorientation.
Other proposals include:
− covering sectoral costs of job training and
apprenticeships,
431
− revising and updating education and training
curriculums and programs,
− research aimed at finding out the reasons for
young people losing their motivation to a
particular job and for not completing maritime
education,
− incorporating a wider range of skills into
the educational framework meeting STCW
Convention requirements so as to give graduates
multiple employment opportunities on land,
− taking widespread actions to promulgate the
positive aspects of the seafaring professions, such
as good working conditions, high standards of
living, competitive to land based jobs,
− improvement of working conditions and salaries
that should be in proportion to the effort and
professional competence of ship’s personnel and
to their work quality and efficiency,
− elimination of all legal barriers in respect to the
recognition of professional qualifications within
the EU,
− revision of regulations concerning the enhancement
of occupational safety requirements and special
monitoring of their implementation on fishing
vessels.
The proposals presented in the Green Paper are
accompanied by a number of solid arguments, right
observations and remarks and complete analyses.
These proposals should be supported and
implemented in all EU countries.
However, the above proposals may encounter
essential barriers that in European countries will be
difficult to overcome. These include demographic
low, doubtful approval of shipping and fishing
shipowners of assuring higher salaries than those
offered on land.
Although these problems are observed in Poland
as well, they are not as intense as in Western Europe.
Nevertheless, these are facts to be faced in our
country:
− high unemployment rate, including jobless
youths, particularly in overpopulated villages and
small towns of northwestern and northeastern
regions,
− drop in the number of candidates, although not so
severe at maritime universities,
− much higher salaries of seafarers than land-based
jobs.
With EU declarations concerning opportunities of
using Community funds for maritime education,
Poland should offer educational services for
personnel to meet EU needs.
In this respect Poland has rich experience with
thousands of seafarers, officers and ratings alike,
working for the global fleet. We have well equipped
educational facilities and teaching/research staff,
educational structures satisfying the requirements of
the Bologna Declaration, good reputation of our
graduates shared by renowned shipowners all over
the world, possibility of increasing the number of
admitted candidates in deficit ship’s professions.
Therefore, we are fully able to participate in the
implementation of EU proposals and plans.
Three maritime institutes of higher education,
three post-high maritime schools, twelve sectoral
secondary schools guarantee steady supply of
qualified personnel for merchant marine and inland
fleets of EU countries. Besides, there are five other
higher education establishments that strengthen our
maritime educational and scientific potential:
Agricultural Academy in Szczecin, two universities
(Gdansk, Szczecin), and two universities of
technology (Gdansk, Szczecin). These also educate
and train highly qualified staff for the shipbuilding
industry, sea fisheries, ports, forwarding and logistic
services, marine and coast environment protection,
land-based staff of shipowners’ companies and
maritime administration. In addition to the academies
and universities mentioned, scientist teams of three
institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences work in
the maritime sector, as well as six research and
development units dealing with the solution of
problems specified in the Green Paper.
Despite these undoubtfully important advantages
of Poland’s participation in creating and implemen-
ting European maritime policy, we have to consider
carefully our role in the project. We have to take
actions in the country so as to meet the
responsibilities undertaken to the best possible
degree. There is always something to do to make
better best.
In my opinion several actions should be taken.
1. At the government level understanding and
recognition of the role and importance of the
maritime economy should be reached. Adequate
conditions should be created for the development
of educational programs, social knowledge of the
sea, securing national interest in the discussed
strategic EU programs by participating in the
fields of education and research.
Efforts and extra financial investments should be
focused on the promotion of maritime
professions; knowledge of Polish and EU
maritime policies should be disseminated by
media to make the society more aware of
employment opportunities, professional promotion,
salaries, social status, attractiveness and work
security within the Community.
Besides, EU declarations on the funds for low
income youths should be taken advantage of;
these would cover such assistance as scholarships,
432
free accommodation or meals, a substantial
economic incentive for a young person to
undertake maritime studies.
2. At the industry and educational/research institutes
level:
A. Maritime education:
- start maritime education in kindergartens; create
a network of maritime vocational, secondary
and post-secondary schools; assure educational
flexibility for maritime universities to meet
national and EU needs.
- establish and promote legislative and financial
instruments for the development of modern
technologies in education, including the
European e-learning program for the maritime
educational institutions,
- create mechanisms for co-operation of the
industry and maritime sectors with educational
and scientific institutions,
- establish Maritime Examination Centres in
order to enhance teaching and training quality
and to standardize the criteria of graduate
competence assessment,
- undertake training in sea pilotage that would
cover particularly sensitive areas and passages
in the seas and adjacent waters under the
competence of EU member states,
- improve the process of teaching and training of
modern designing methods, technologies,
management and logistics,
- in relation to technological advancements and
current needs, the list of maritime fields of study
and courses should be extended to include such
areas as exploitation of the seabed, multimodal
transport systems, oil rigs operations, attractive
forms of marine tourism (sailing and submarine
boats), anti-terrorist protection of ships, ports,
marine oil production facilities, special terminals,
- introduce at least two European languages into
curricula as well as the ‘computer’ language,
- create conditions to attract and promote
outstanding practitioners from the maritime
companies to the educational sector.
To sum up the educational issues, it should be
emphasized that there exists an apparent
convergence of both Bologna Declaration and latest
communiqués from Bergen
1
, of the requirements of
the STCW 78/95 Convention and draft EU policy
towards educational standards.
Polish national legislation on higher education as
well defines educational standards as ‘a set of
educational principles at higher education studies
1
19-20 May 2005, EU Conference of Ministers at Bergen.
conducted in various forms within particular fields,
macro-fields and international studies’
2
.
All aforementioned documents tackle the problem
of qualifications presenting the viewpoint that
educational standards should focus on the learning
outcome and graduates competence as a priority, not
the fulfillment of formal inflexible program
framework. Although a certain framework of
teaching curricula remains, there is room for a
variety of forms and conditions for introducing such
new methods of education.
Although the communiqué from the meeting of
ministers responsible for higher education at Bergen
recommends the adjustment of national structures of
graduate qualifications and to align them with the
European Qualifications Framework, it leaves space
for wider incorporation of those principles that help
assure high quality of the teaching process.
In this connection strategic plans of the EU
maritime policy should stipulate that the autonomy
of each university/academy will be retained in terms
of its internal structures due to several factors
including tradition, provided that the priority of
graduate qualifications quality is maintained.
B. In the field of scientific research the following
should be done first of all:
Take part in creating data bases on various
phenomena and economic, social and recreational
activities in the maritime sector. These data bases
have to make up a basic tool for implementing EU
maritime policy and the management of human
interaction with the sea. Such data bases have to be
reliable and comprehensive to enable appropriate
decisions and harmonized activities.
To this end the existing research and educational
establishments should be adjusted to reach such
objectives as monitoring water cleanness, living
marine resources, soundings, identification of debris,
location of wrecks and war hazards (gas containers,
mines, unexploded bombs, etc.), accuracy of
navigational systems used, seamarks, traffic
surveillance, water state changes, currents, planning
of zones and streams of safe traffic flows, etc.
The establishment of research plans has to be
harmonized with the adopted overall maritime policy
of the EU, with thematic priorities set on the global,
European and regional scales. Other goals include
the continuation of co-operation between domestic
and EU higher education institutes, joint scientific
projects, joint research in theoretical and applied
fields. The maritime sector provides a wide area for
2
Act on Higher Education (Journal of Laws no 164, item
1365, art. 2 par. 18).
433
research, overlapping themes and problems that
unite the marine environment.
It goes without saying that the research done so
far will not be neglected by the universities, each
specializing in areas strictly connected with the
fields of offered education. The maritime universities
in Poland do research aimed at operations of ships,
technical facilities used in transport, fishing and
cargo handling in ports and on ships. The deep-sea
fishing at the Academy of Agriculture, in turn,
should rather expand its present directions of
research focused on the exploitation of organic and
non-organic resources of the oceans as well as
European seas.
The universities will definitely find it necessary to
integrate their research outcomes, in both fundamental
and applied sciences, in such disciplines as biology
and physics of the sea, oceanography, oceanology,
economics, organization and management of maritime
industries, maritime commerce and law, integrated
(multimodal) transport with sea ports as its important
elements.
The scope of scientific interests of technical
universities includes designing and construction of
vessels or other technical equipment and machinery
needed in research and exploitation of the marine
environment by transport, seabed exploration and
deep sea fishing. These may be directed to tackle
preferable supplementary topics and innovative
design solutions.
3 CONCLUSIONS
The activities of all educational and research
institutions in Poland (universities, research and
development institutes and centres) should be
coordinated to meet national and EU needs.
We should actively participate in crating and
executing EU educational and research programs for
the maritime sector. We ought to make use of the
experiences acquired, set the special areas for Polish
maritime education and research centres that would
move our country into European research space with
the aim of executing common maritime policy of the
European Union states.
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