A consortium of European groups has created a program that connects former prison inmates with jobs in the Blue Economy. Called Turning Blue, the project aims to inspire and engage disadvantaged young people serving time in prison to pursue a sustainable ‘blue career’ in one of the Blue Economy sectors.
The maritime workforce is struggling with an aging work force and changes in skills needs. Turning Blue aims to identify at least 30 types of jobs in the Blue Economy with a high potential to employ young people leaving prison, and define the needed professional competencies (including knowledge and skills) for working in these blue sectors. The EU-funded initiative is running until August 2026 across Portugal, the Netherlands, Romania, Cyprus and Italy.
Some people have already been placed, according an article in Euronews. At Portugal’s Sado Estuary, oyster farmer António Correia has already hired several former prisoners and remains open to employing more. “Everyone deserves a second chance,” he told the paper. “People who want to turn their lives around and who’ve been through hard times might actually value the opportunity more.”
Turning Blue’s objectives include designing an innovative Awareness Training on Blue Economy careers, along with a training and capacity-building intervention model that would be transferred to 88 professional and target at least 84 young people in prison.
They also set up a job-placement platform specially designed to connect young people leaving prison with Blue Economy operators who had high potential and motivation to employ them and to boost collaboration opportunities between different stakeholders from Blue Economy, higher education, justice and civil society organizations.
According to the Council of Europe there were more than one million inmates detained in the 48 prison administrations of Council of Europe member states as of 2023. Nearly 20% were there on drug charges; the average age was 38. According to Turning Blue, most of these individuals will eventually be released, face a significant risk of reoffending and further criminalization without proper support to accumulate meaningful life experiences, particularly young offenders, who are especially vulnerable to reoffending.
Working in a Blue Economy that derives food, energy, biopharmaceuticals and other products sustainably from the ocean could provide meaningful life experiences.
