During the meeting of the SEA-EU Board of Governors at UG, the overarching decision-making body, the achievements of SEA-EU to date were summarised and the alliance's priorities and action strategies for the next years were set. This is another day of meetings of the University of the Seas, SEA-EU consortium - an alliance of six European and coastal European universities.

The Governing Board meeting started with a film promoting the University of Gdańsk. Then the floor was taken by prof. Piotr Stepnowski, Rector of UG, the host of this year's meeting of the members of the European University of the Seas, who welcomed the gathered guests.

- 'We are happy to welcome you to this place, the Main Library of the University of Gdańsk, the heart of our University. Surrounded by knowledge, experience and heritage, today we begin discussions that are strategic in nature,' - said prof. Piotr Stepnowski, Rector of UG. - 'Let me also welcome the representatives of the Marshal's Office of Pomorskie Voivodeship who support the University of Gdańsk. We are very pleased with the smooth and bilateral cooperation with the local government, which has resulted in the implementation of several important projects supporting not only the University but also scientists involved in the daily economy of our region.'.

The SEA-EU Governing Board meeting was opened by the Rector of the University of Cadiz, prof. Francisco Piniella: - 'I would like to start by thanking the Rector of the University of Gdańsk, Piotr Stepnowski. Thank you for always sharing your enthusiasm for SEA-EU and thank you to the whole team for the wonderful organisation and for such a warm welcome that makes you forget the cold weather.'.

Prof. Francisco Piniella recalled the June meeting in Malta, where we jointly reviewed the stage the consortium was at at that time and where further activities were planned. He also summarised the evaluation carried out by the European Commission.

- 'Things are going well, we are satisfied with the feedback from the European Commission after the progress report. The feeling is that our activities are on the right track, but there are things to improve, which is always the case when you want to achieve excellence,' said prof. Francisco Piniella. - 'The evaluation is positive in many aspects and we must continue to strengthen our collaboration and the actions of our teams. Remember that together we can do more and better. There are intense and decisive moments on the near horizon for our alliance and we must find a way to "run and tie our shoelaces" at the same time. We still need to close the first part, while at the same time we are designing and writing an interesting proposal for the second phase. The challenge is to add two new members to this SEA-EU family.'.

Next, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Education and Science, Mr Wojciech Murdzek, took the floor and joined the University of the Seas consortium in the remote form: - 'I would like to welcome the participants of today's meeting, representatives of the European University of the Seas, created by six European universities. I am glad that we were able to meet at the University of Gdańsk, which through its motto In Mari via Tua organises unique, on a Polish scale, extremely important undertakings, e.g. in the field of maritime studies, maritime space management, maritime law, aspects of protection of the marine environment.'.

Minister Wojciech Murdzek emphasized that the projects undertaken by UG are consistent with both global and EU policies, which facilitates rational, wise use of space in terms of the so-called blue economy: - 'The Polish government is interested in all achievements, scientific and research aspects in this space. The very idea of European universities is extremely important to us. We realise that not only the scientific and didactic aspect is of unique value, but also the wealth of co-created space in the areas of culture, sport, and increasing the mobility of academic staff and students. I hope that this international cooperation will bear fruit in your activities and that the challenges for the future will be focused on finding the best solutions in the area of maritime economy, environmental protection and sustainable development,' - he added.

Later in the meeting, the SEA-EU Coordinator, prof. Fidel Echevarria reviewed the main achievements of SEA-EU and the strategy for the future. The professor touched upon the consortium agreement, progress reports, technical and financial reports, to name a few. Among the main products developed by the consortium, he mentioned a report based on educational analysis, a report on a model for automatic recognition of foreign qualifications and period of study, a joint maritime and EU research programme, a report on conceptual foundations and EU-related documents and tools, a report on best practices for cooperation with the socio-economic sector and a report on best practices for job searching.

The conclusions of the evaluation of the progress report (improvement plan) were then presented, after which students from the SEA-EU Council spoke, expressing their pride in being students of an international university.

We asked dr hab. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler, prof. UG, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, for a summary of what has been done in the project and what is still to be done.

- 'The pillars of this project are the creation of an international campus that will be filled with both academic staff, scientists and students. We want them to be able to move freely between universities within one campus,' stressed prof. Anna Jurkowska-Zeidler. - 'As far as the achievements of the last three years are concerned, it is worth mentioning the work put into mapping our resources, starting with the education systems in six countries, and also the issue of mobility, which we associate with Erasmus, but by which we mean much more. We focus on students, but also academic staff mobility and the administrative staff mobility scheme. The third thing I would like to emphasise is the study of cultural differences, the level of knowledge of gender equality, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the fact that SEA-EU already has its sister projects. There is, for example, reSEArch-EU, dedicated to improving research and the scientific base. The aim for the coming years is to learn about experiences and how university competencies are given back to the socio-economic environment.'.

Let us recall that the universities of the European University of the Seas (SEA-EU) alliance have been working for three years on a new model of education and academic exchange that will increase the competitiveness of European higher education, ensure the mobility of students and staff, and at the same time improve the quality of education and research. Priority is being given to research and business activities and cultural traditions linked to the sea, as well as to cooperation with the business community, research agencies, authorities, foundations or educational institutions.

Preparations are currently underway to participate in the next European Commission competition 'European Universities'.

Photos: Piotr Wajda