Education and training in the Blue Economy: a Mediterranean perspective

We aim to analyse the “consistency” and “effectiveness” of education and training through a cross-border comparison of three Italian regions: Tuscany, Liguria and Sardinia. We thus analyse state-of-the-art education and training in the sample area to identify instruments able to deeply exploit, through the use of human capital, the potential of the Blue Economy (Blue Growth). To do so, we adopted a qualitative approach and analysed multiple case studies to observe schools that offer nautical training in the sample regions using interviews based on a paper questionnaire. Our results show that education and training in the Blue Economy should be better planned to improve the development of the maritime sector; the Blue Economy could, in this way, represent one of the best opportunities for a firm’s success. Keywords: Education, Training, Blue Economy, Blue Growth, human capital, Mediterranean sea, Europe 2020, professional profiles, maritime and coastal tourism, cross-border areas.