Fourth Official Meeting of AFISHE Project at University of Porto

December 4, 2024

On December 2-5, 2024, University of Porto, Portugal, hosted the fourth official meeting of "Development of Aquaculture and Fisheries Education for Green Deal in Armenia and Ukraine: FROM EDUCATION TO ECOLOGY" (AFISHE) Erasmus+ CBHE project, which was attended by the Project coordinators and working groups members of the following coordinating institutions: Armenian National Agrarian University, International Scientific-Educational Center of NAS RA, affiliated partner Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology of NAS RA, University of Dubrovnik, University of Porto, Slovak University of Agriculture, Sumy National Agrarian University, and the National University of Water and Environmental Engineering.

On the agenda of the meeting is planning the activities for the final year, thus summarizing the two years of the project's activity. According to the agenda, the leads of the work packages of the project presented the works performed by the universities during two years of the project activities, the problems related to their implementation, completed and unfinished activities, etc.

Arusyak Harutyunyan, ISEC Coordinator of AFISHE project, specifically presented the fourth work package, Infrastructure Development, within the framework of which 4 laboratories have already been established in partner universities.

Reminder: In November, 2023, another project milestone was passed within the Erasmus+ AFISHE program. A Shared Research Infrastructure Access Agreement was signed between the International Scientific-Educational Center of NAS RA and Armenian National Agrarian University, designed to carry out scientific and research activities within the framework of the joint curriculum. The partner universities are interested in using the equipment purchased within the AFISHE project and installed in Educational and Research Laboratories in partner institutions, henceforth serving as "AFISHE Labs". These scientific and research laboratories will become a platform for joint and significant research activities for partner universities.

As a result of the implementation of the AFISHE project, a network between Armenia, Ukraine and EU partner countries in the fields of aquaculture and fisheries will be established. This network will serve as a platform for the implementation of joint educational and research activities with the purpose of promoting the best ecology-based approaches and activities in these fields in line with UN SDG goals and EU Green Deal.