Turning Blue

Integrating young offenders through the blue economy

Project description

The overall aim of the ‘Turning Blue’ project is to create new cooperation mechanisms and training materials on sustainable blue economy to inspire and engage disadvantaged young people (between 16 and 30 years old) serving time in prison to pursue a sustainable ‘blue career’ in one of the Blue Economy sectors.

Turning Blue objectives

Identify 30 types of jobs in the Blue Economy with a high potential to employ young people leaving prison, and define the needed professional competencies (including knowledge and skills) for working in these blue sectors and practice the profession properly;
Design an innovative Awareness Training on Blue Economy careers, combining different and adapted educational content, targeting at least 84 young people in prison from 5 different EU countries, increasing their awareness, knowledge and motivation to pursue a ‘blue career’;
Design an innovative and integrated “from prison to the blue economy” intervention model, and through a training and capacity-building approach, transfer it to more than 88 professionals in the different targeted sectors (including prison staff, career counsellors and industry professionals);
Form the ‘Turning Blue’ Network to connect and strengthen the link between prison services, education/training providers and the blue industry (including prisons, blue economy sectors, higher education, justice and civil society organisations) and stimulate cooperation to inspire and engage young people exiting prisons to pursue a sustainable ‘blue career’ in one of the Blue Economy sectors;
Set-up a job-placement platform specially designed to connect young people leaving prison that are job seekers in the Blue Economy with the blue economy operators with high potential and motivation to employ them, thus facilitating a positive experience, proper mentorship and job-retention;
Fill in the gap between inclusive and sustainable blue economy, booting collaboration opportunities between different stakeholders from blue economy, higher education, justice and civil society organizations, and creating new knowledge to inform policies at different levels.