Scandinavian Maritime Fair

This session explores the issues with recruitment and retention and dives into various aspects of crew diversity, including gender representation, global recruitment, labor shortages, cultural disparities, bullying issues, and the importance of providing recreational and inspiring accommodations for crew members.

MODERATOR:
Perle Møhl, Associate Professor, Centre for Maritime Health and Society, University of Southern Denmark 

SPEAKERS: 
Suneeti Bala, Co-founder of International Women Seafarers Foundation
Diversity / Competence – Myths and Truths 
Suneeti Bala is the co-founder of International Women Seafarers Foundation which works towards increasing the participation of women seafarers in shipping and providing a good work environment for them. In this presentation she will talk about some of the myths and truths relating to diversity and competence.

Emilie Posniak Hansen, Architect, OSK Design 
Crew Living – A home away from home
Seafarers spend a substantial amount of time in small communities isolated out on the ocean. They face all sorts of challenges when sailing, maintaining, and living on the vessels, which in fact is their second home. How can we improve this home away from home to ensure improved cooperation, crew comfort and a happier crew?

Helene Pristed Nielsen, PhD, DEI advisor to the Royal Danish Navy Command
Navigating by principles of equity and inclusion 
The Danish Armed Forces in general have seen a remarkable increase in the number of women volunteering for initial military training. But when it comes to employment as professional soldiers, the number falls drastically. The talk briefly presents a few initiatives the Navy is currently pursuing in order to increase our attractiveness and retention for all staff groups.

Momoko Kitada, Professor, Head, Maritime Education & Training, World Maritime University (SE) 
Will the same strategy work in the promotion of women seafarers and the one of LGBTIQ+ seafarers?
With the 18-year research experience of gender issues in the maritime sector, Professor Kitada explains the commonalities and differences in promoting women seafarers and LGBTIQ+ seafarers. The presentation introduces new initiatives of increasing diversities in the maritime sector and discusses the role of maritime education and training.

Lisa Loloma Froholdt, Senior Researcher, Head of Research Unit, Centre of Maritime Health & Society, SDU, Denmark
Using an Occupational Safety and Health approach to address bullying, violence and harassment at work as a robust recruitment and retention strategy
Following instances of bullying and harassment on Danish-flagged ships, the Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs asked the Danish Maritime Authority for an investigation to clarify the problems. On behalf of the Danish Maritime Authority, the CMSS/University of Southern Denmark investigated the extent on Danish ships. Based on a high prevalence of bullying, harassment and violence in the fleet, this presentation addresses these issues by proposing some hands-on action points that can contribute to both the needed retention and recruitment in the Danish fleet.

Lene Kromand, formerly SIMAC (now OUH, Odense University Hospital)
What do women want? 
Females rarely apply to the jobs at sea or other jobs we, as a community, identify as masculine. Is it because males are better at technique, wiser, think smarter, and are stronger than females, or do females simply have other wishes for their jobs and educations than males do? 

Dennis Arnt Valgren, Maritime Psychologist and Leadership Consultant &  Frederik Fredslund, Head of Learning & Development, Maersk Training 

Camp learning as a way to create more inclusive leadership at sea 
Maersk Training has, as a part of a cultural transformation, conducted +65 four-day Camps around the world in the past 1½ years. The Camp is an immersive learning experience targeting Senior Officers to raise self-awareness and empower them to lead a more inclusive culture onboard, where everybody feels psychologically safe.