The InTerAct project “Industry - Academia Interaction in the Marine sector”, was initiated to explore the education needs of the aquatic food industry and to identify the interest areasof students that qualify for higher education programmes such as the international master programme AQFood Aquatic Food Production - Safety and Quality (www.aqfood.org).The main activities of the InTerAct project were aimed at positioning the higher education programme and creating new ways to recruit students.

The main objectives were to strengthen the image of the marine sector, to demonstrate interesting future career opportunities for students and to support the developmentof a higher education programme with a focus on the aquatic food value chain.

The objectives were met by:

• Interacting with stakeholders in the aquatic food value chain to assess the industry’s challenges and identify gaps in the education.
• Defining sustainable platforms for industry– academia interaction in educational programmes.
• Promoting the marine sector´s image as an attractive career opportunity for students with higher education.
• Strengthening the image of the Nordic marine sector by using new media to reach to students and stakeholders.