Using disruptive Technologies to facilitate the Ecological transition of the Nautical sector

2026-07-22

"The boating industry in Europe is a dynamic and competitive sector and a significant contributor to the European economy with over 6.5 million boats being kept in European waters. The total industry is made up of 32,000 companies, directly employing over 280,000 people. Most of the fleet is built using approx. 72.000 tons of non-recyclable materials and besides the implementation of recycling solutions for this vast amount of non-recyclable material, the use and implementation of new, sustainable fibres and resins for boat building is needed. This necessary change has triggered a major need in the nautical industry for a deep-tech talent pool on sustainable materials that has the necessary skills and knowledge about composites that will be the new green wave of the sector, including the sourcing, use, application, and disposal of sustainable materials. The TEcoNaut project aims to achieve tnis main objective through: • The development of a Deep-Tech materials course for VET, which contents will be the use and application of Deep Tech Materials together with a Train the Trainers Program. • Conducting a deep “Skills gaps” identification phase which results will be connected to ESCO and will make use of the new EU Green Taxonomy. • awakening an entrepreneurial mindset of students and future workers of the “eco” nautical sector, so they can see a future business in the use of sustainable materials and the circularity of boat building materials while fostering their resilience skills. • Designing of a Traineeship programme for HE students with ""Hands-on"" approaches that will work on the application of the “Deep-tech” skills in the companies. The highly necessary Deep Tech Green wave in boat building can only be successfully developed through the collaboration of Higher Education that is researching on deep-tech materials, companies that are building their boats in a sustainable friendly way using these materials and VET centres who can provide qualified staff."

Spain

2026-02-15