RES-SKILL: Reskilling coal industry workers for the renewables energy sector
Description
The decarbonisation of the EU27 is expected to result in the loss of ~76k workers’ jobs in coal mines & plants until 2025 (154k until 2030). Partnership countries (GR, DE, AT, RO, BG, PL) will be particularly affected, currently representing 81% of the total EU coal workforce (190k). At the same time, a surge of jobs in the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) sector is already happening and expected to continue and perhaps grow.
Due to similar skillset, coal workers are ideally fitted for covering unfilled positions in the RES sector. The skills of coal workers (e.g. durability in hazardous environments, employment of manual & sophisticated technologies) are sought after in the solar photovoltaic (PV) & wind industries, being particularly transferable to the occupations of solar PV installer/technician & wind-farm/wind turbine technician. Thus, coal workers can avoid the lengthy training (~2 years) currently on offer by existing VET courses, requiring only a short course or on-the-job training.
Web page: http://res-skill.eu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resskillproject
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/res-skill-project/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/res_skill
Partnership
- Hellenic Society For The Promotion Of Research And Development Methodologies Astiki Etairia / Promea (GR) – leading organization
- Berufsförderungsinstitut Burgenland (AT)
- Liceul Tehnologic Ticleni (RO)
- Renewables Academy / Renac Ag (DE)
- Stara Zagora Regional Economic Development Agency (BG)
- Instytut Gospodarki Surowcami Mineralnymi I Energia Pan (PL)
Objectives
1. Develop a novel curriculum and tailored training content to facilitate coal industry workers’ shift and integration into the renewables industry.
2. Support VET providers to integrate the RES-SKILL materials into their WBL and VET offerings.
3. Improve cooperation between VET providers and businesses to provide opportunities that will enable coal industry workers to transition to the RES sector.
Activities
1. VET learning outcomes for training provision on the knowledge and skills required to be acquired by (former) coal workers to transition successfully to the RES industry, validated by sectoral stakeholders and field experts (О1).
2. RES-SKILL career reorientation toolkit with transition profiles for coal workers to match them with the most relevant job profile in the RES sector (O2).
3. Learning reorientation pathways of coal workers, recommendations & guidelines for VET providers and employers to implement successful transitions of (former) coal workers with the most appropriate RES industry occupational profile (O2).
4. Formal VET learning units on learning pathways for (former) coal workers to succeed in the RES industry, and VET integration guidelines (O3).
5. Open Education Resources (OERs) for training (former) coal workers on wind and solar PV sector skills (O3).
2. RES-SKILL career reorientation toolkit with transition profiles for coal workers to match them with the most relevant job profile in the RES sector (O2).
3. Learning reorientation pathways of coal workers, recommendations & guidelines for VET providers and employers to implement successful transitions of (former) coal workers with the most appropriate RES industry occupational profile (O2).
4. Formal VET learning units on learning pathways for (former) coal workers to succeed in the RES industry, and VET integration guidelines (O3).
5. Open Education Resources (OERs) for training (former) coal workers on wind and solar PV sector skills (O3).
6. Resources for the establishment of ‘Joint Competence Centres’ for career reorientation for public and sectoral stakeholders to facilitate coal workers’ transition in their territories by utilising the RES-SKILL Career re-orientation toolkit (O2) and OERs (O3).
7. Six (6) national information days in GR, DE, AT, RO, BG, PL to share and disseminate RES-SKILL results (E1-5).
7. Six (6) national information days in GR, DE, AT, RO, BG, PL to share and disseminate RES-SKILL results (E1-5).
Results
O1: RES-SKILL learning outcomes
- O1 – T1. Developing the methodology to map job transition requirements & skill complementarities (M1-M2)
- O1 – T2. Collection of evidence on skill complementarities, new RES sector requirements, and training opportunities for the transition of coal workforce to the RES industry (M3-M4)
- O1 – T3. Analysing collected evidence and defining RESSKILL learning outcomes (M5-M6)
- O1 – T4. Sectoral/social validation of learning outcomes with stakeholders and experts & clustering of learning outcomes (M6-M7)
O2 Career reorientation toolkit
- O2 – T1. Skills matching analysis and development of transition profiles (M8-M10)
- O2 – T2. Assessment tool to identify learning pathways (M11-M12)
- O2 – T3. Development of RES-SKILL portfolio (M12-M13)
- O2 – T4. Guidelines & recommendations report for VET providers and employers to implement successful transitions (M14-M15)
O3 RES-SKILL learning units and Open Educational Resources (OERs)
- O3 – T1. Developing RES-SKILL learning units (M16-M21)
- O3 – T2. RES-SKILL training and assessment materials (M16-M21)
- O3 – T3. Development of trainer handbook with guidelines for VET providers and RES sector employers to integrate the RES-SKILL OERs (M22-M23)
O4 - Resources for the establishment of Joint Competence Centres on career reorientation
- O4 – T1. Joint development of Strategic Plan with Statutory Provisions (M24-M25)
- O4 – T2. Drafting of an Operational Plan for the Joint Competence Centres (M25-M26)
- O4 – T3. Pilot run of a Joint Competence Transition Centre for career reorientation (M26-Μ30)