The ground-breaking European Union-funded TRECVET project held its final project conference in Palma de Mallorca last month.

TRECVET stands for Transnational
Recognition of European Certification in Vocational Education and Training.

The aim of the project and conference was
to initiate European-wide dialogue about recognition of professional skipper
qualifications between Member States.

Mike John, TRECVET project coordinator,
reports: ‘The conference was a great success and we were overwhelmed with the
attendance of 75 people including many professional skippers, national authorities,
nautical associations, charter companies, crew agencies, sea and diving
schools.

‘This shows that the problem the project addresses
has a very wide impact on the industry.

‘The feedback has been very positive and constructive,
with UK and Spanish authorities recognising the need for more cooperation.’

It is hoped the legacy of this project and the
conference will be to stimulate cooperation between authorities, generate
pressure group activity and create greater worker mobility and opportunities
for professional maritime personnel and vocational workers in many other
sectors.

Many benefits

Phil Edwards from Dovaston Crew an
international recruitment company provided the following statement for the
conference. ‘The TRECVET project has been welcomed by many yachting
professionals and we at Dovaston are one of the well recognised names that
endorse the proposals.

‘I can clearly see many benefits
particularly for centres in the Mediterranean, where many nationalities of crew
are employed.’

Member of the European
Parliament, Rosa Estaràs Ferragut took the time during a heavy work schedule in
Mallorca to visit the
conference and personally offer encouragement and support to the project team.

The
TRECVET project has developed a method and a software tool that make
professional skipper qualifications objectively comparable and has analysed as
a test case three qualifications from the UK, Spain and Germany.

The
aim is to give detailed and objective information about the qualifications in
order to compare them, to identify their commonalities and differences and to
start a dialogue about how to improve the current situation.

Click here to find the Comparison Tool.

Based on the
success of the conference, the coordinators intend to continue a dialogue with
all attendees and maintain the momentum generated by the project.

They also
invite other authorities and interested parties with similar problems to
contact them to formulate solutions based on the experience and tools developed
in the TRECVET project.

It is also
planned to organise a follow-up conference in a years time to assess the
advances made in the industry and to evaluate what further needs to be done to
push this initiative forward.

For any
enquiries please contact info@trecvet.eu

For more
information please refer to www.trecvet.eu

Pictures:

Caption 1: (from left to right) José Fernando Escalas (Capitanía Maritima Palma), Kate Mentink
Duncan (Conseilleria de Presidencia Islas Baleares), Germán de Melo Rodríguez
(Nautical Faculty Barcelona-University of Catalunya), Silja Teege (TRECVET
Project Coordination Team), Michael John (TRECVET Project Coordination Team) and
Bernard Butler (TRECVET Project Coordination Team)

Caption 2: Silja Teege

Caption 3: Lara Hidalgo
López (ANEN-Asociación Nacional de Empresas Náuticas), Carlos Sanlorenzo
(ANEN), Jaime Darder Vidal (ANAVRE – Asociación de Navegantes de
Recreo), José M. Bertrán Basauli (ANPPER – Asociación
de Patrones Profesionales de Embarcaciones de Recreo), Mirna Cieniewicz (EBI -
European Boating Industry), Michael John and Bernard Butler

Caption 4: The audience

Caption 5: Silja Teege, Rosa Estaràs
Ferragut (Member of the European Parliament), Michael John and Bernard Butler