After five years of collaborating in the development of different initiatives, Campus do Mar takes a qualitative leap in its relationship with academic and research institutions in Cape Verde with the signing of a protocol between the University of Vigo and its African counterpart to promote entrepreneurship in strategic sectors related to the maritime economy. The project “Entrepreneurship at sea. Innovation for the sustainable development of coastal communities in Cape Verde, Empreamar CV” is subsidized with approximately 73,000 euros, which the Presidency of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, AECID, granted to the University of Cape Verde. The rector Judite da Encarnação Medina do Nascimento was in charge of signing the collaboration protocol with her counterpart from the University of Vigo, Salustiano Mato, via videoconference.
“It is a new form of collaboration that can yield good results and open up a new path in the way of working that has an impact on the development of our peoples”, assured the rector of the University of Vigo, who recalled the good results that Empreamar is having in Galicia, first in Muros and currently in Moaña, and to which he referred in the case of Cape Verde as “a leap in the way of facing entrepreneurship and a novelty because it is established through the AECID”. For her part, the Cape Verdean rector emphasized the importance of signing this protocol, which allows “to continue the collaboration that we have with our partner, the University of Vigo, with whom we work in priority areas for us”. Meanwhile, the general coordinator of the Technical Cooperation Office of AECID, Jaime Puyoles, pointed out that “at the Agency we are looking for new ways to have an impact with projects with modest funding and this is a good example that will help us see if it is an appropriate idea to focus our cooperation in this country”.
Along with the rectors of the universities of Vigo and Cape Verde, the commissioner of Campus do Mar, Emilio Fernández, as well as other representatives of the Spanish embassy in Cape Verde and the government team of the African academic institution participated in the signing of the protocol.
Entrepreneurs, teachers, research and technical staff, beneficiaries of the project
The project “Entrepreneurship at sea. Innovation for the sustainable development of coastal communities in Cape Verde, Empreamar CV” aims to promote entrepreneurship among strategic sectors related to the marine economy and will be open to the participation of around twenty young people willing to develop business projects in the area of the maritime economy; around ten teachers and researchers from the University of Cape Verde, who will benefit from the exchange of experiences with similar programs with Campus do Mar and other African countries and around twenty technicians and technicians from involved institutions and companies related to the marine economy. Contributing to the improvement of the quality of life of people dependent on the marine economy through the implementation of innovative solutions based on the promotion of sustainable and profitable entrepreneurship is the general objective of this project, which will be led by the University of Cape Verde.
Activities programmed to achieve four results
Increasing knowledge of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and the entrepreneurial opportunities offered by the blue economy from social innovation in Cape Verde is the first of the results expected to be achieved in this program and for which a diagnostic study and a collaborative baseline of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and business opportunities will be developed, as well as an action plan for strengthening the capacities of the Entrepreneurship Unit of the University of Cape Verde from its Entrepreneurial University strategy.
To achieve the objective of designing and implementing the Empreamar Cabo Verde program, the program will be designed by a work team and both the candidate selection process based on business ideas, which must also be defined, and the Training and Support Program for entrepreneurs will be designed and implemented, while a final identification of viable business plans and design of strategies aimed at the acceleration phase will be carried out.
Another source of work will be the promotion of public-private collaboration at local and national levels within the framework of promoting business development around the sea as an opportunity for economic diversification. To achieve this objective, a permanent public-public group and work will be created and managed around entrepreneurship in the sea economy within the framework of the Entrepreneurial University, while collaboration capacities will be analyzed within the framework of supporting marine entrepreneurship and a Public-Private Collaboration Action Plan integrated into the design of the Empreamar program will be designed and implemented.
Finally, with the aim of raising awareness among the local and national population about the importance of the sustainable use of marine resources for economic, social and environmental development, a dissemination and communication strategy associated with Empreamar will be designed and implemented.
Five years of collaboration and three joint projects
With the signing in January 2012 of a memorandum of understanding between the University of Cape Verde, Campus do Mar and the National Institute for Fisheries Development, a collaboration began between the University of Vigo and the academic and research institutions of Cape Verde which, after five years, has materialized in three projects, the one signed today and two others.
Strengthening research and academic training in Cape Verde to promote sustainable marine development, was the first of the joint initiatives, which with funding from the Xunta de Galicia and the participating institutions allowed the completion of four doctoral theses; the completion of a specialization course in Cape Verde for research staff; the design of a doctoral program in Marine Sciences and Technologies in the African country and the installation of a videoconference room. For its part, Strengthening academic and research institutions in Cape Verde as a contribution to the social, economic and environmental development of the marine sector, signed in 2015 and financed again by the Xunta and academic institutions, allowed the continuation of the first project, as well as the start of the Marine Doctorate Program in Cape Verde and the continuation of the activities initiated.
Source: duvi
