Offshore Wind Farms Summer School: Ecological Aspects
26/06/2026
The BEYOND Offshore Wind Farms Summer School: Ecological Aspects successfully concluded last week, running from 15 – 19 June at the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS) in Trieste (Italy). The Trieste edition followed the conclusion of Part 1 in Rijeka from 1 – 3 June on technical aspects.
The Summer School featured 34 students with participants from Algeria, Egypt, France, Libya, Malta, Morocco, Pakistan, Portugal, Spain and Tunisia joining the core group of Croatian and Italian learners – a true representation of the Mediterranean learning community.
The BEYOND Programme was comprehensive and experts were drawn from inside and outside the Project, as well as internally from OGS to facilitate an integrated approach to the topic. The Istrian Regional Energy Agency - IRENA, Croatia, and Project Coordinator, kicked off by outlining the need for green energy production and the potential of marine renewable energy. This was followed by the Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka - RITEH, Croatia, and the BEYOND Summer School partner of OGS, focusing on the wind potential for OWFs in the Adriatic.
Three external lecturers made invaluable contributions to the Summer School. Daniela Moderini of Energia Wind 2020 showcased the Rimini Project to explore the interaction between OWFs and other blue sectors. Carlo Franzosini of SHORELINE, Italy, dived into OWF interaction with the fisheries sector while Emiliano Ramieri of the Italian National Research Council's Institute of Marine Sciences – CNR, Italy, highlighted the role of marine spatial planning (MSP) for the sustainable development of OWFs.
Internal OGS experts were also integral to the programme: BEYOND’s leading researcher for OGS, Simone Libralato, discussed interactions between OWFs and fisheries; Silvia Ceramicola, Senior Researcher in Geophysics, gave a dynamic picture of geohazards connected with OWFs, while Simona Iannucci explained the ecological impacts of infrastructures at sea, and Alice Affatati the acoustic effects of OWFs. The OGS team finished with Igor Celic guiding students in working groups, where they had hands on practical use of a simplified ecosystem model representing the effects of OWFs.
The curriculum and learning approaches used in the BEYOND Summer School enabled students to learn the unique skills needed to address future challenges in the marine sector. Theoretical and practical material was combined effectively and included a visit to the Miramare Marine Protected Area, where students learned about the local marine ecosystem and its current challenges.
This year, the BEYOND Summer School took place in synergy with the Summer School programme of the Interreg Italy – Croatia project Smart and innovative blue skills for competitive blue economy (MareSkill), within the framework of the annual OGS Blue Skills Summer School under the umbrella theme of “Building Capacities for an Innovative and Resilient Sustainable Blue Economy,” thus successfully maximising the impact and reach of the BEYOND Summer School programme.
