In 2019, the Nordic master’s program in Sustainable Production and Utilization of Marine Bioresources (MAR-BIO) was established by 4 Nordic universities: Gothenburg (Sweden), Nord (Bodø, Norway), Akureyri (left in 2022) and Hólar (both Iceland) in collaboration with the University of New England (Maine, USA). This unique trans- and interdisciplinary program aims to educate the next generation professionals in sustainable blue bioeconomy by combining natural sciences with environmental and social sciences, as well as economics and law. It introduces students to key aspects of the blue bioeconomy and its main industries in each partners’ country. In Norway, focus is on salmon farming, in Iceland on the fishing industry and its sustainable use of natural resources and in Sweden on low-trophic aquaculture. All 3 countries jointly teach technical development of sustainable and innovative aquaculture systems, novel alternative feed ingredients and fish health and welfare in circular systems.
The program places strong emphasis on mobility and requires at least 30 ECTS to be earned outside the home university. The first course (15 ECTS) is a mandatory and hybrid course consisting of 3 modules of 1-2 weeks online, each followed by 1 week of on-site visits to each country. These visits include study tours to industrial partners and presentations of ongoing research (Fig.1). In the second semester, students apply for classes at 1 or more of the partner universities (15 ECTS) and the program is finalized by a 60 ECTS master’s thesis course at any of the partner universities.
Now entering its 6th year, the master’s program has grown from 5 students in the first cohort to 25. In this presentation, we will provide a detailed overview of the program, highlighting the transdisciplinarity and the future within this most rapidly growing and diversifying area of sustainable food production. We will show how the program offers a diverse network of contacts to the students both within the established industry, among innovative entrepreneurs and with authorities in the 3 partner countries. You will see the unique curriculum of the first mandatory course that lay the foundation for this successful cross-country collaboration in higher education, with potential to expand beyond the Nordic countries.