Aquatic ecosystems harbour unique biodiversity and provide key ecosystem services. Conserving and sustainably managing marine and freshwater systems in times of global change requires specific skills that aquatic scientists need to acquire and develop throughout their career. Higher education institutions have a responsibility to provide relevant and up-to-date science-based education, especially at the postgraduate level. To identify the essential competences that MSc students should acquire, the insights of multiple stakeholders are needed.

During 20–24 January 2020 a workshop was dedicated to the identification of a portfolio of competences and learning outcomes for future aquatic scientists in Quito, Ecuador. The workshop was the first scientific meeting for the CORRIENTE XXI project, funded by the European Union, which aims to support innovative education for research-based and sustainable management of marine and freshwater ecosystems. This joint project focuses on curriculum development through international capacity building between Peru, Ecuador, France and Belgium. For this workshop, academics gathered to develop a shared, systematic approach to identify competences for postgraduates of existing and planned MSc programmes in aquatic sciences, and to assess the expectations of students, recent graduates, teachers and future employers.

The overall objective of the workshop was to share knowledge on portfolios of competences and learning outcomes through training. During the workshop, the six partner universities worked towards acquiring the necessary skills to design and analyse surveys and to establish a portfolio of competences, which will be the basis of updated and new MSc programmes. The workshop comprised stakeholder analysis by each higher education institution, development of customized surveys for the four stakeholder groups, preparation of data analysis and dissemination, and capacity building on survey methods.

These analyses have been distributed amongst the stakeholders. The findings will be a key input for the first CORRIENTE XXI meeting, in the second half of 2020, and will be the basis for curriculum update and development in the universities involved in Peru and Ecuador. Overall, the 3-year CORRIENTE XXI project addresses pressing environmental issues by providing research-based academic training, a framework for transboundary cooperation between higher education institutions for science-based solutions to shared challenges, and academic capacity building for teaching personnel. The project will result in two new MSc programmes in Ecuador and the update of three MSc programmes in both Ecuador and Peru. Activities (workshops, staff training, job-shadowing activities, an integrative conference, an innovative job fair, and a summer school) will train Peruvian and Ecuadorian academic staff in innovative and integrative skills. CORRIENTE XXI aims to raise the level of the MSc programmes, increase graduate employability, and raise awareness of the importance of aquatic sciences and management. This will translate into more effective guidelines for policy and management both nationally and in transboundary regions, and improved national and international scientific collaboration.

The findings of the stakeholder surveys will feed directly into the development of a portfolio of competences and learning outcomes for the MSc programmes in a region that depends heavily on the sustainable management of abundant yet declining natural resources, often shared between neighbouring countries. The focus of CORRIENTE XXI on sustainable development skills, on graduate employability and on research-based higher education is in line with the objectives of the upcoming United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. For more information about the project, please contact Jean Hugé.