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The voyage through the sea of knowledge begins on the training ship Saltillo

Students from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and the University of Bordeaux started their round trip between Santurtzi and Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which will take place from the 18th to the 26th of July. During the trip they will visit different sites along the Basque coast where free activities open to the public will be held.

The official presentation of the second edition of the crossing of the Saltillo took place this morning. This ship of the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU becomes the special venue for the Summer Course entitled "Universidades que miran al mar: navegando por la sostenibilidad del océano en el buque escuela Saltillo", the aim of which is to publicise the scientific, educational and dissemination work of the university enclaves of the UPV/EHU that look out to sea.

At the presentation held at the Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao (UPV/EHU), Gorka Moreno Márquez, vice rector of the Campus of Biscay of the UPV/EHU, stressed that this summer course is an example of several of the strategic lines that the UPV/EHU wants to work on in the coming years: educational innovation, the promotion of sustainability and the SDGs, internationalisation, knowledge transfer, etc. And all of this in such a relevant and attractive environment as the Basque coast and our Saltillo training ship.

For his part, the general director of the Port Authority of Bilbao, Carlos Alzaga, pointed out that "the link between the business world and teaching must be very close, and this School and the EHU/UPV itself allow us to achieve this". Alzaga sees the need to attract women to technical careers. "We need more engineers and for that we should attract younger people and, above all, women. Dual training is also essential".

Javier Sánchez-Beaskoetxea, deputy director of nautical education at the Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao, welcomed the students to the School, the seafarers' building, the Saltillo and the course and stressed "the importance of making the sea and all its reality known to society".

This journey, as part of the UPV/EHU's Summer Courses, aims to ignite the minds of the participants, inviting them to participatory and experiential learning.

It is a multicultural and multilingual course for the cross-border community, where 3 local languages (Basque, French and Spanish) and a lingua franca (English) come together. The crew will put all their linguistic resources to the test to make this encounter enriching and inclusive, aware of the diversity that we represent.

This course is also part of the Cross-border Summer Courses programme, the second edition of which is being held on parallel dates in Baiona.

The voyage will also take place on land (Portugalete, Mutriku, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Donostia/San Sebastián, and Bilbao), with free activities open to all audiences and conferences on topics such as environmental monitoring of port waters, ammonoids, underwater archaeology, the relationship between science, citizen science and activism and the restoration of maritime heritage.

The open activities are as follows: (you can access the programme of each activity by clicking on the title)

Course programme: click here.

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Summer Course on the SALTILLO training ship from 2 to 5 July