skip to main content
Close
  • Students
  • Staff
  • Applicants
South West College logo
  • SWC
  • Find a course
    • Courses A-Z
    • School Leaver (16-18)
    • Higher Education
    • 14-16 Provision
    • Adult Learners (19+)
    • Parents & Carers
    • Employers
    • Subject Areas
    • International Programmes
    •  
    • Apprenticeships
    • Skills for Life
    • Traineeships
    • Mentor Connect
    •  
    • Higher Level Apprenticeships
    • I want to be a HLA
    • I want to employ a HLA
    • Course Help
    • How to Apply/Enrol
    • Course Fees
    • Qualifications Explained
    •  
    • Social Inclusion
    • Going Places
    • College Connect
    • SUSE+
    • Sectoral Employability Academies
    This image (Swc 061221 057) is a link that points to the Download a Prospectus page
    View All Prospectuses

    Need Help Applying for a course?

    Contact admissions@swc.ac.uk and a member of our admissions team will get back to you
    How to Apply
    • Student Support
    • Careers Guidance
    • Career Builder
    • Health & Wellbeing
    • Learning Support
    • Carers
    • Student Finance
    • Student Handbook
    •  
    •  
    • Student Life
    • Meet Our Students
    • Term Dates
    • Events
    • Way Out West
    • Turing Scheme
    •  
    • Digital Learning
    This image (Swc 061221 057) is a link that points to the Student Handbook page

    Student Handbook

    Download

    Funding Support for Students

    As a student there are a several funding opportunities you can apply to for help with your course related costs.
    More Info
    • Explore Our Campuses
    • Erne Campus
    • Dungannon
    • Omagh
    • Cookstown
    • Technology & Skills
    • Automotive Centre
    • The Workhouse
    •  
    • Enterprise Action Hub
    • Business Services
    • Skill Up
    • Skills Focus and InnovateUs
    • Innovation Vouchers
    • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)
    •  
    • Community
    • Recruitment
    • News
    • Corporate
    • Policies & Procedures
    • Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
    • Financial Statements
    • College Development Plan 21/22
    • Sustainability
    • Privacy & Data Protection
    • Governance
    • Publication Scheme
    Play video This image (Collage made up of three photos depicting students engaged in photography, art, and IT.) is a link that points to the About page
  • Contact
  • Your List
  • SWC
      • Courses A-Z
      • School Leaver (16-18)
      • Higher Education
      • 14-16 Provision
      • Adult Learners (19+)
      • Parents & Carers
      • Employers
      • Subject Areas
      • International Programmes
      • Apprenticeships
      • Skills for Life
      • Traineeships
      • Mentor Connect
      • Higher Level Apprenticeships
      • I want to be a HLA
      • I want to employ a HLA
      • Course Help
      • How to Apply/Enrol
      • Course Fees
      • Qualifications Explained
      • Social Inclusion
      • Going Places
      • College Connect
      • SUSE+
      • Sectoral Employability Academies
      • Student Support
      • Careers Guidance
      • Career Builder
      • Health & Wellbeing
      • Learning Support
      • Carers
      • Student Finance
      • Student Handbook
      • Student Life
      • Meet Our Students
      • Term Dates
      • Events
      • Way Out West
      • Turing Scheme
    • Digital Learning
      • Explore Our Campuses
      • Erne Campus
      • Dungannon
      • Omagh
      • Cookstown
      • Technology & Skills
      • Automotive Centre
      • The Workhouse
      • Business Services
      • Skill Up
      • Skills Focus and InnovateUs
      • Innovation Vouchers
      • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)
    • Community
    • Recruitment
    • News
      • Corporate
      • Policies & Procedures
      • Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
      • Financial Statements
      • College Development Plan 21/22
      • Sustainability
      • Privacy & Data Protection
      • Governance
      • Publication Scheme
    • Enterprise Action Hub
  • Contact
  • Students
  • Staff
  • Applicants

South West College turning the tide on Blue Growth

South West College (SWC) hopes to strengthen Northern Ireland’s marine economy by adapting existing technology and maximising the potential of the province’s aquatic resources.

As part of the €2.1m TARGET Project - an initiative spear-headed by SWC which seeks to make local manufacturers more globally competitive – the college is already using various technologies in innovative ways. It now intends to explore new methods of using that same technology to bolster Northern Ireland’s marine economy, after gaining inspiration from a recent conference that addressed Blue Growth.

Padraig McNamee, Head of the Department of Technology at SWC, attended The Northern Periphery & Arctic Programme Annual Conference 2017 last Thursday (September 21) at the Marine Institute in Galway. He was joined at the event by TARGET Project Co-ordinator Edel McCusker, and SWC Programme Manager, John Moore, along with other TARGET partners.

Entitled ‘Blue Opportunities: The Marine Economy in the NPA’, the conference focussed on Blue Growth in relation to the Arctic and to the Atlantic Strategy. It also addressed areas such as marine entrepreneurship, the marine and coastal environment and sustainable tourism.

Padraig said: “What I found particularly interesting was that, as an island nation, we’re lagging behind. We actually get quite a small percentage of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) from the marine economy, at about 0.8%, compared to the global average of 2%.

“But there’s plenty of scope for us to develop and explore our marine resources in a way we currently are not, both in exploitation of physical resources – fishing and wind and extracting minerals from the sea – and marine tourism. We’re also quite close to substantial inland resources, such as the Fermanagh Lakes and Lough Neagh.”

Having already introduced a range of technology to local manufacturing companies for multiple uses, SWC is confident this same technology can be used in yet more innovative ways to facilitate Blue Growth. This will ultimately support entrepreneurship further and increase production within the marine economy.

“We as a college will be looking at how we can use the learning from the TARGET Project, which has been aimed at land-based work, to explore marine opportunities,” said Padraig. “It’s more about upscaling what we’re doing – not necessarily doing it bigger, but doing it better.”

Share

Subscribe
for all stuff Way Out West

graphics-top-left-blue
graphics-top-right-yellow

Footer

Quick Links
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Track Your Application
  • Vacancies
  • Download a Prospectus
  • Download Our App
  • Contact Us
  • Policies & Procedures
  • Term Dates
  • Status of Key Services
  • Privacy & Data Protection
  • SWC YouTube
  • SWC LinkedIn
  • SWC Instagram
  • SWC Facebook
  • SWC Twitter
Tel: 028 8225 0109
AccessAble Department for the Economy
Payments powered by WorldPay
Payments powered by WorldPay
  • Privacy & Data Protection
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
South West College © 2023
Green17 - Web design Belfast, Northern Ireland
  • Privacy & Data Protection
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
South West College © 2023 Green17 - Web design Belfast, Northern Ireland