Contributing to improving the quality of life of people dependent on the Blue Economy or Ocean Economy, through the implementation of innovative solutions based on training and the promotion of sustainable and profitable entrepreneurship, is the objective of the project Entrepreneurship and self-employment for young people and women in the Blue Economy sector in Cape Verde. The rector of the University of Vigo, Manuel Reigosa; the rector of the University of Cape Verde, Judite da Encarnação Medina do Nascimento; and the general coordinator of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) signed, via videoconference, the memorandum of collaboration for the launch of the project, co-financed by AECID through a grant awarded to the African academic institution, which leads the initiative. The project also involves the National Fisheries Development Institute (INDP) and Proempresa.
“The Blue Economy or Blue Growth is an initiative developed from the concept of Green Economy, and this project prioritises balance in the management of marine resources, making use of their full potential (trade, ecosystems, tourism, families…)”, explains Professor Gonzalo Méndez from the Department of Marine Geosciences and Territorial Planning at the University of Vigo and researcher in the Sedimentary Basin Analysis Group at CIM-UVigo.
The lecturer and researcher from the Galician academic institution travelled to the African country for the signing of the memorandum, where he also took part in a cycle of conferences on the Blue Economy linked to entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as in the launch of the second edition of the Empreamar CV Programme, which involves strengthening a pre-incubation entrepreneurship hub and launching incubation and acceleration processes.
Commitment to the development of the marine sector in Cape Verde
With the support of Campus do Mar and the Office of International Relations, the University of Vigo, through the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Coastal Development, had already been collaborating in the promotion of a marine-coastal entrepreneurship ecosystem in Cape Verde through the project Marine transfer and entrepreneurship in Cape Verde as a strategy for job growth and economic, social and environmental development: Emprender en Azul, funded by Galician Cooperation (Xunta de Galicia). For its part, the collaboration agreement recently signed by the rectors of Vigo and Cape Verde and the general coordinator of AECID establishes the conditions under which the academic institutions join efforts to implement the project, as well as defining the planned activities to be carried out by the University through the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Coastal Development and setting out the economic management model for the activities, which will continue until June 2021.
“In this context, the University of Vigo participates in the development of the maritime sector and collaborates with its international partners in favour of the social, economic and environmental development of marine and coastal areas, carrying out academic and research and technical development projects with a cooperation-based approach,” Méndez states.
