Increased institutional capacity in Danube navigation by boosting joint transnational
competences and skills in education and public development services

Danube Skills Summary

Funding programme: Danube Transnational Programme (DTP)

Priority Area: PA 4 – Well governed Danube Region

Specific Objective: SO 4.1 Improve institutional capacities to tackle major societal challenges

Project duration: 30 months (January 2017 – June 2019)

Project budget: 2,023,100 euro

Funding rate: 85% (ERDF, IPA)

Danube region needs and challenges addressed:

Today there is still a lack of transparency and knowledge on how to integrate green Danube Navigation into sustainable transport solutions. Increased institutional and organisational capacity will help equip public service providers with a critical mass of information and support to understand (=mind shift) and use (=modal shift) Danube transport and help them to jointly respond to common challenges.

Besides, there is a shortage of qualified personnel on-board inland vessels and fragmented legal framework governing skills and qualifications in the Danube inland transport sector and hindering recognition of qualifications and mobility of work force.

Danube SKILLS main objectives:

Increased institutional capacity in Danube navigation by boosting joint transnational competences and skills in education and public development services

• Make public institutions in charge with nautical training and certification fit to implement common European standards;
• Make public institutions responsible for Danube navigation development fit to provide services to actively trigger raise of modal share of Green Danube transport and to act as 1-stop-shops for Danube logistics;
• Set-up of institutional (= sector-wide) Capacity Building cooperation for improving legal and policy frameworks on nautical qualifications and Danube transport promotion.

Project activities and foreseen results:

Danube SKILLS will deliver following project results to its addressed stakeholders and users:

• Capacities and skills on nautical qualifications: Danube SKILLS will contribute to the adoption in the Danube region of the new European legislation on the recognition of professional qualifications and the common standards;
• Capacities and skills on Danube logistics: Danube SKILLS will assist public institutions responsible for Danube navigation development in the transnational promotion of Danube logistics by increasing first their competencies and skills in Danube logistics and thus fostering their interactions with their commercial users on how to learn and use Danube transport on a regular basis.
• Transnational policy support such as strategies and action plans for nautical qualifications and Danube transport for fostering institutional (= sector-wide) capacity building.

Danube SKILLS contributes to bring these policies into life based on:

Danube SKILLS optimizes governance mechanisms for international cooperation in EU Member States and beyond (e.g. Serbia) and also promotes excellence in public administration through informal cooperation and sharing experiences and joint activities and thus contributes to EUSDR PA10 to step up institutional capacity and public cooperation. It also supports EUSDR PA1a (inland waterways) and EU2020, SEE 2020, Cohesion Policy with regard to improved qualifications of human resources. Danube Skills Summary

 Project partners and stakeholders:

The project consortium includes 22 partners (13 ERDF, 2 IPA, 7 ASPs) from the education and training and the inland waterway transport industry, public authorities, non-government organizations and international associations from Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania as well Associated Strategic Partners (ASPs) from FR, HU, HR, CZ, NL and BE.

Participation as ASPs of River Commissions, i.e. the Central Commission for the Navigation on the Rhine, the Danube Commission and the International Sava Basin Commission, the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic, the European Transport Workers’ Federation, EDINNA Association and Association for European Inland Navigation and Waterways, all entities actively involved in the process of harmonization of qualifications in the inland navigation sector and integration of Danube navigation in modern European transport solutions is an additional asset for the successful delivery and subsequent sustainability of project ambitious outputs.

 Contact data:

 Lead Partner:

• CERONAV – Central Roman pentru Pregătirea şi Perfecţionarea Personalului din Transporturi Navale (Romanian Maritime Training Centre), Constanța, România, Website: www.ceronav.ro / Contact person: Ghiuler Manole, Phone: +40.241.639 595/ext. 2223, Email: ghiulermanole@ceronav.ro

Project webpage: www.interreg-danube.eu/danube-skills

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