SEA MENTORS platforms aimed to enable knowledge transfers between seafarers in various ranks which directly adapts vocational education and training to labour market needs, and contributing to innovation in vocational education and training. SEA MENTORS has disseminated the innovative practices developed within the partnership, across Europe and internationally. SEA MENTORS project objective is to deliver the following results (www.seamentors.eu): - the level of “experiential knowledge” has been identified based on a complex study regarding the importance and relevance of mentorship, revealed in 2 published studies; - a Joint Carrier Counseling e-Center has been implemented (https://www.seamentors.eu/portal.html); - a professional assessment tool has been developed to instruct the cadets about their professional potential (https://marplat.eu/course/view.php?id=50); - full training package for mentors and mentee has been created and posted online for general use; - an experiential knowledge library with mentorship experiences have been developed; - complex data basis with mentors and potential employers have been developed; - 12 mentoring meetings have been organized; - 5 newsletters and 1 brochure have been created.
The partners have applied for this project considering the lack of practical tools in providing mentoring services to the young maritime professionals, in their evolving path toward seafaring assignments. The initial need has been determined by a specialized study pursed by the partners, prior to the project initiative, considering the imperatives of STCW standards, STW 44/3/2 Leadership and Teamwork, HTW 5/3/2 Leadership and Managerial Skills, correlated with HTW 5.3.5 Crisis management and human behavior training, promoted by the IMO Sub-Committee on Human Element, Training and Watchkeeping, where the role of mentoring has been stated as a significant matter of assuring effective and smooth insertion of seafaring professionals onboard ships, in balance with educational, training and coaching operational dimensions. The project partners have sought to cover to gap of experiential knowledge transfer from maritime professional area toward the young seafaring professionals, initiating practical tools for carrier guidance and domain awareness, addressing to the cadets with a portfolio of mentorship and coaching materials from cadetship outlines cancelling to the experiential knowledge library accessible by all interested parties.