Designing a Blue Economy Curriculum, FPIK IPB University Lecturers Establish Global Collaboration Through the STABLE Project
As an important part of efforts to strengthen the competence of Indonesian graduates in facing coastal and marine sustainability challenges in the ASEAN region, IPB University through the STABLE Project initiated a Curriculum, Course Content, and Advanced Training Workshop at the Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) Bremen, Germany (11/19–21).
The STABLE Project, or Higher Education Partnership for Blue Economy, is a strategic project under the EU-ASEAN SCOPE Higher Education Connectivity framework. The project is led by Prof Hefni Effendi, Professor at the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (FPIK) IPB University and Chairman of the Department of Aquatic Resources Management (MSP).
This workshop brought together academics, namely 19 lecturers from FPIK IPB University, 4 lecturers from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, and a number of European partners from ZMT Bremen, University of Bremen (Germany), and University of Groningen (Netherlands). Prof Dr Raimund Bleischwitz, Director of ZMT, and Prof Fredinan Yulianda, Dean of FPIK IPB University, welcomed and officially opened the event.
As the leader of the STABLE Project, Prof. Hefni Effendi comprehensively elaborated on the STABLE project, which will run for three years (2025–2027).
He said that academics formulated the important competencies needed by future graduates at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. On the first day, the process began with interactive mapping to define the blue economy, guided by Rebecca Lahl from ZMT.
“We presented the FPIK IPB University curriculum for four master’s programs, namely Coastal and Marine Resource Management (SPL), Water Resource Management (SDP), Marine Science (IKL), Marine Technology (TEK), along with five semester learning plans (RPS) for courses,” said Prof Hefni.
From his presentation, he said, feedback was invited on the integration of the blue economy module into the curriculum. Presentations from UMT (Master on Tropical Fisheries), the University of Bremen (Master on Marine Biology and Master on ISATEC/International Studies in Aquatic Tropical Ecology), and the University of Groningen (Master on Water and Coastal Management, and Master on Marine Biology) also sparked discussion on lessons learned from previous curriculum changes. The future prospects in the fields of fisheries, marine science, social science inclusion, and blue economy were also hot topics of discussion.
Participants also took part in advanced training focused on the broad aspects of research-based teaching in sustainable management, fisheries, marine resources, marine conservation, blue carbon, transdisciplinarity, and blue economy.
Experts provided input on the latest theories and tools to be integrated into teaching, covering topics such as blue economy and ocean accounting; mangrove ecology and restoration; transdisciplinarity, tourism, wastewater; working with communities in water management; and Science LinX (connecting science and society).
Also related to the blue economy and ocean justice; transdisciplinarity, reef passages; ecology and evolution of fish-teaching fish ecology at the University of Oldenburg; biodiversity monitoring and eDNA; artificial intelligence (AI) and remote sensing; scientific diving; environmental modeling for integrated scenario analysis; participation and research opportunities under Horizon Europe, Erasmus, Euraxess, DAAD; and blue carbon.
“We also held an Internal Project Workshop to explore further collaboration in joint master’s and doctoral programs, joint research, student exchanges, summer schools, international symposiums, and research dissemination,” said Prof Hefni.
Participants also developed plans to apply their learning to revise curricula and course content following insights gained from European partners. The program concluded with a visit to the advanced research facilities of Marine Experimental Ecology (MAREE) ZMT Bremen. (*/Rz) (IAAS/LAN)
