Contact person(s):

Anett Miklós miklos.anett@vasmegye.hu

Program website:

Project summary:

The use of renewable energy sources (RES) is projected to increase significantly in the coming years due to the targeted expansion in the Austrian-Hungarian programme region. However, due to demographic trends and trends towards higher education, there is already a shortage of skilled labour for maintenance, servicing and further ex-pansion in the border region, e.g. building electricians, plumbers, air conditioning technicians, etc. In addition, it is estimated that more than 40 000 additional RES spe-cialists will be needed in the programme region alone by 2030. The policy objectives for the deployment of RES up to 2030 and beyond therefore depend above all on the avai-lability of skilled labour for the production, construction, development, installation and maintenance of products and infrastructure related to the production and use of energy from wind, solar and biomass. In particular, the next generation of skilled energy workers (Next GEn) will play a crucial role in the realisation of the strategic go-als for renewable energy and the related energy transition, and thus contribute sig-nificantly to climate protection and the competitiveness of the region.

Next GEn aims to alleviate the medium- and long-term skills shortage in the renewable energy sector by developing a multi-layered innovative career guidance model for 10-15 year old students who are about to choose their further education path.

The development and piloting of innovative thematic concepts and accompanying materials for career guidance workshops on renewable energy sources - solar, wind, biomass and energy mix - will help to disseminate basic knowledge on renewable energy and raise awareness of the urgent need for skills and training in this fast-growing sector.

Cross-border surveys of students, parents and teachers, expert interviews, and rese-arch on occupational profiles and training pathways will be used as a basis for develo-ping the concepts.

The concepts developed will be tested in pilot actions at several levels: a mentor trai-ning course will teach potential multipliers in educational or career guidance instituti-ons how to use the concepts independently in teacher training. In a teacher workshop, teachers and student teachers will be introduced to the curricula so that they can app-ly them in their own lessons. In order to test the concepts in practice, the partners themselves will organise at least 40 workshops for students, directly supporting more than 500 students in career guidance.

In addition to the RES workshops for pupils, a cross-border competition will be organi-sed to further raise awareness and public awareness.

LEAD PARTNER:

• BFI Burgenland Vocational Training Institute - AT

Project partnership:

• Vas County Government Office - HU
• Sekem Energy GmbH - AT
• Wood Science Foundation - HU

Stratégiai partnerek:

• bit schulungscenter GmbH - AT
• Bord of Education for Burgenland - AT
• Burgenland Energie AG - AT
• Vocational Training Institute Vienna - AT
• Educational District Centre of Sárvár - HU
• Educational District Centre of Szombathely - HU
• Hungarian Federation for Forestry and Wood Industries - HU
• SolarTech-Investment Ltd. - HU
• Board of Education Styria - AT

„The project is implemented in the framework of the Interreg VI-A Austria-Hungary programme and funded of the European Regional Development Fund.”