As of March 1, 2025, Dr. Hab. Ernest Czermański, Prof. UG – Director of the UG Centre for the Maritime Economics Studies – has become the new head of the postgraduate program “Education for Sustainable Development: Offshore Wind Energy.” “The first three editions of the program have yielded a wealth of positive experience. We will build upon what we have already achieved,” the new program head announces.
Szymon Gronowski: You are the Director of the Centre for the Maritime Economics Studies and the new head of the postgraduate program “Education for Sustainable Development: Offshore Wind Energy.” A fourth edition of the program is planned for October. What are the plans for it?
Dr. Hab. Ernest Czermański, Prof. UG: The first three editions of the program have yielded a wealth of positive experience. We will build upon what we have already achieved. The program participants represent a wide range of key enterprises and institutions within the maritime economy, including the offshore wind sector currently being developed in Poland.
This demonstrates public awareness regarding the benefits of education in the field of offshore wind energy. It is not merely a niche industry involving the dozen or so thousand people who install and maintain turbines at sea; it also encompasses a much broader scope of onshore activities. We are discussing issues related to energy infrastructure and the broad needs of energy consumers – who must understand how to diversify their energy sources – as well as legal matters affecting the entire offshore wind energy system, ranging from grid integration to the establishment of regulations ensuring proper development. Creating an appropriate framework to support “local content” – that is, the participation of Polish industry in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind energy in Poland – is a task I consider to be of the utmost importance. The current situation indicates that we still have a great deal of work to do in this area.
Why?
We still have much to learn regarding the promotion and protection of Polish industry, as well as identifying suitable roles for it. We can observe examples of successful approaches in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, and even France – yet we have not yet mastered this lesson ourselves.
The participants in our program represent a wide range of entities, reflecting their potential to contribute to the supply chain and the entire process of developing and reaping the benefits of offshore wind energy.
Drawing on this experience, we intend to expand the next edition of the program by introducing a hybrid format. This will combine online meetings with practical workshops. Our goal is active collaboration with students and participants; rather than limiting ourselves to passive listening, we will foster direct engagement with the topics at hand. Each participant brings their own views, knowledge, experience, and perspective, all of which are invaluable when executing projects. It often happens that a specialist, holding a firm view, implements specific procedures or manages a project without taking into account the experience of others. We wish to highlight the immense value of a certain kind of inclusivity within the offshore wind energy sector.
What will the practical sessions look like?
We intend to consult with graduates of previous editions to determine which study visits would best complement the program. At the current stage of offshore wind development, many sites crucial to the industry are still under construction. In March, the foundation stone was laid for Equinor’s offshore wind farm service base in Łeba. Over time, the offshore industry will become concentrated in several locations- including Gdańsk, Gdynia, Łeba, Władysławowo, Ustka, and Świnoujście- a factor we will take into account when planning study visits for future editions.
What challenges and plans lie ahead for the UG Centre for the Maritime Economics Studies in the coming years?
There are numerous challenges, but the primary one is raising awareness of the link between our region and the maritime economy. Having taught for over twenty years at the Faculty of Economics- specifically in the International Maritime Transport and Trade program- I observe that the number of graduates entering the labor market remains insufficient to meet the sector’s needs. Some of our students secure attractive employment as early as their third year of study. They typically work for large logistics, transport, and freight forwarding corporations, as well as for small, rapidly growing companies in Pomerania. Their work involves container freight forwarding, intermodal transport, shipping, and port operations- areas representing traditionally developed segments of the maritime economy, including the port services market. Recently, the offshore wind energy sector has also been expanding; it constitutes a major component of this economy, creating jobs nationwide. Similar processes are unfolding in the port, shipbuilding, and shipping industries, which serve as engines for the entire economy. A single job in cargo handling generates approximately nine other positions across the economy- though the exact ratio depends on the type of handling, the cargo, and the specific port. The potential for rapid job creation is immense, as an efficient port attracts foreign importers, exporters, and investors. This picture effectively illustrates the entire chain of interdependencies- the study and monitoring of which is the mission of the UG Centre for the Maritime Economics Studies. We once prepared a report analyzing the value of annual cargo handling at the Port of Gdańsk. Value chain analyses indicate that there is already a demand for approximately 1.7 million jobs in this sector in Poland. All of this is made possible by the infrastructure of the Port of Gdańsk, which serves as our gateway to the world.
While ports, shipping, and shipbuilding are established industries, the offshore wind energy sector is developing very dynamically. We also have maritime tourism, fisheries, scientific research, and maritime education, as well as the prospect of aquaculture development- a field currently in the research phase in the Baltic. We are also looking at other waters, seas, and oceans- such as Norway- where aquaculture is already well-established. It is essential to critically examine the impact of such activities so that future directions for the development of the maritime economy can be proposed based on experience and analytical findings. Taking a comprehensive view of how these industries coexist is one of the challenges facing the Centre for the Maritime Economics Studies.
What potential does the Centre for the Maritime Economics Studies have in this regard?
There are currently a great many such challenges, which is why we conduct research not only within the Centre itself but also on behalf of the University of Gdańsk as a whole. Through the Centre for the Maritime Economics Studies, we represent a wide spectrum of research, analytical, and project capabilities- spanning economics, marine biology, geophysics, marine physics, and marine chemistry. This also encompasses the identification and reduction of marine pollution, an area where we have focused our efforts for many years. There is the 1978 MARPOL Convention [International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships – Ed.], which, through the UN’s International Maritime Organization, imposes increasingly stringent restrictions on the shipping, shipbuilding, and port sectors—for instance, regarding sulfur content in marine fuel and CO₂ emissions, as well as incentivizing a shift toward alternative fuels to achieve low- or zero-emission operations. Strategies exist that aim for a 70% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2050 compared to 1992 levels, implying that at least seven out of ten ships will be zero- or low-emission vessels.
These challenges are significant, as they necessitate the development of maritime technologies. Within the Centre, we can commercialize these technologies or support their development and industrial implementation by participating in numerous projects that introduce solutions- innovative on a European scale- into the real economy. We are currently working on the electrification of cargo-handling equipment at the Gdynia Container Terminal. Thanks to collaboration across the entire University- and particularly with the Faculty of Economics- we possess significant research capacity operating within the Centre itself.
We see opportunities to scale up our projects. The case study of the Gdynia container terminal yields conclusions that can be applied on a much broader scale; indeed, this is a requirement of the INTERREG programme, under which we are implementing the Blue Supply Chains project. We are also working on circular economy (CE) cargo, an area that holds great development potential. Ports do not merely serve as transshipment points for waste; they are also sites where waste is generated. Managing this waste- through identification, auditing, and the adaptation of technologies to enable reuse- presents a new challenge. Currently, only about 7% of goods, materials, and raw materials worldwide are recycled. This is far too little. We do not yet operate as a circular economy- not even to the slightest degree- yet this is the challenge that lies before us.
Why is it essential to continuously increase the share of recycled goods and materials?
This is not merely a slogan associated with the greening of the economy but a genuine business necessity, as our resources- both energy and mineral- are dwindling. From an economic standpoint, managing waste makes sense; modern technologies enable us to sort, separate, and recover the original value of raw materials for reuse. For instance, just five years ago, recycling automotive gaskets was impossible. They contained aluminum, fiberglass, rubber- a hydrocarbon-based product- as well as various metals and composites. Today, a Polish company has the capability to separate these materials; following the processing of production waste and scrap from dismantled vehicles, the gaskets are sent to a facility that yields distinct material fractions- aluminum, steel, rubber, and fiberglass- which can be reused to manufacture highly durable components. The rubber goes back into gasket production, the aluminum can be reused after processing, and the steel is used for reinforcing fibers.
The Centre for the Maritime Economics Studies also intends to collaborate with the business sector. We primarily offer analytical support, market and marketing analyses, and assistance in developing new solutions for entrepreneurs seeking to minimize the risk of choosing the wrong development path. Thanks to our robust methodological expertise, we can help assess whether a given project is suitable for commercialization and production scaling. Next, we assist in preparing an implementation business plan- including the search for external funding sources from both domestic and international funds- and in selecting partners by connecting the concept with complementary entities. We serve as a hub integrating scientific, technological, organizational, economic, legal, and financial aspects.
Thank you for the conversation.