BACKGROUND: The NEEDS identified in the wind energy sector in the staff´s professionalization matter are: - Current skills established for wind energy sector´s staff in Spain established by INCUAL (National Institute of Qualifications) refer only to operational training in the installation and operation of the wind farms (ENAE 193_3 "Management Installation and Maintenance of Wind Parks" ) However, there are no standardized training programs at European level. Whereas existing frequent mobility in this sector, training contents at the European level would facilitate the qualification of professionals and will facilitate the mobility of staff between countries. - At present, this sector has courses with traditional learning techniques and contents. This sector is characterized by the relocation of the workplace, making it difficult to support the organization and training centers. With innovative training tools using ICT the distance learning will be facilitated. - In today's job market there is a growing demand for highly qualified for wind farm maintenance staff, not only in mature markets such as Spain but also in growing and emerging markets (other European countries). To this need for highly skilled operators will also add the growing sophistication of wind turbines requires specialization of workers. “Trivial: SKILLWIND”´s OBJECTIVES are: - Standardize at European level the operational skills needed to qualify suitable to the wind energy sector´s staff (installation and exploitation) of wind farms - Promote an innovative development of the training in the wind energy sector through a serious game. - To promote the professional development of staff and the competitiveness of the sector. The game technology has an enormous potential to develop with a suitable guarantee the teaching-learning process. Serious games are a useful learning method to alleviate the practical training needs of the learners and efficient tool in the learning processes. This assertion is supported by the intrinsic educational features to the game, because suppose a motivating device for the users, achieves significant learning while playful; promotes the teamwork, so necessary for society today and have great flexibility in use. New technologies applied to training available to the student and teacher interaction media , significantly improving the learning process. These innovative learning tools based on the use of ICTs allow the use of interactive contents through a serious game will provide a more efficient quality training and distance learning can be developed at any time and place. Therefore, through this proposal seeks to use ICT as innovative educational tools. However, with the current economic situation, this is a high stress hard to take, motivating the search for external funding - The consortium will be formed by 3 professional associations of different countries (Spain -AEE-,Italy -ANEV-and Belgium-APERe-),1 multinational corporation, training company and expert in the ICT and training European Projects (SGS TECNOS) and 1 University (UBRUN in United Kingdom) These entities have an experience and capacities that as a whole are essential for the achievement of the specific aims of the project: - Unlike the individual companies of the sector that identify what needs it has his CONCRETE activity, the PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS (AEE, ANEV and APERe) know closely the wind sector IN THEIR SET so much in his country as to European level. They identify so which is the development and needs of all the areas that shape the sector from the projects of construction of parks, construction of parks, assembly and installation, dismantlement, SMEs, average and big companies, suppliers, auxiliary elements, regulation, market, training…. In addition they give diverse services, between which stand out those of training and professional qualification of the workers of the sector (object of this proposal). For this, the associations form specific workgroups that treat these topics and articulate tools to contribute to the companies and workers the means necessary for a suitable and updated professional training. Associations have also a high experience in activities of national and International diffusion (fairs, Congresses, Conferences ….) For his representation in the negotiations with the state agencies, these entities identify the sectorial and European needs being able to intervene in the improvement of the learning as well as allow an easy access to a major number of beneficiaries - The main result expected to develop in this project is a SERIOUS GAME: “Trivial: SKILLWIND“ with the training for the development of the daily activities of the sector. This training program will be standardized t European level. - IMPACT: each of the consortium countries respond to the European request to improve strategies and ensure the development and updating of key skills
CONTEXT: Current skills established for wind energy sector´s staff refer only to operational training in the installation and operation of the wind farms. However, there are no standardized training programs at European level. Due to the increasing mobility in this sector, standardized training contents at European level would facilitate the qualification of professionals and will facilitate the mobility of staff between countries. An online standardized training program would address this growing demand. Serious games are a useful learning method to complement the practical training needs of the learners and efficient tool in the learning processes, allowing learners to make a self- assessment to their learning process. SKILLWIND is a project funded by the Action "Strategic Partnerships" of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, specifically by the KA2: "Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices" whose aim is to create a homogenous European training program in wind farms maintenance which includes a serious game to evaluate the knowledge acquired. MAIN GOALS OF THE PROJECT: • To standardise at European level the necessary skills to adequately qualify wind industry professionals, specially the capabilities of workers in operation and exploitation of wind farms. • To develop an innovative training in the wind energy sector through the design and programming of a serious game, specifically aimed to solve the most critical aspects of the activities of maintenance, health and safety, thus creating a safe working environment. • To promote the professional development of workers and the competitiveness of the industry. PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS: The consortium is composed of five European partners with an extensive experience in the vocational training of this sector: • AEE (Spanish Wind Energy Association): Spain • SGS TECNOS (Multinational Company expert in vocational training): Spain • ANEV (Italian Wind Energy Association): Italy • BRUNEL UNIVERSITY LONDON (University): UK • WindEurope: (European Association of Wind Energy) Belgium ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT: IO1: Report: WIND ENERGY SECTOR´s SKILLS. In a first step, in order to evaluate the transverse skills needed to qualify the wind energy sector staff and normalize the training at European level it is necessary to analyze the skills that the wind energy job market is demanding in Europe, as well as the training offer. A research has been done focusing in the European Market to analyze the wind industry sector and its prospective growth in the future years which could affect employment requiring a very high number of qualified personnel. This research has taken into account the needed skills and the current training offer in Europe. This report is available in the project website: https://skillwind.com/ IO2: WIND ENERGY SECTOR TRAINING The consortium has developed a standardized training program for the Wind Energy sector staff. This program is available to anyone wishing to learn in the project website: https://skillwind.com/ and is composed by 6 modules plus another one of technical descriptions: • Basic concepts • Construction, transport, commissioning & assembling • Predictive Maintenance • Preventive Maintenance • Corrective Maintenance • Health and safety IO3: SERIOUS GAME Trivial: SKILLWIND The consortium has developed a learning tool which allow players to test their knowledge of the SKILLWIND training program through a “Serious Game”. This trivial is available for Android (for download at the project website) and iOS devices (through the Apple Store) in 4 languages: English, French, Italian and Spanish. RESULTS AND IMPACT: The main result of the project is the provision of an innovative training tool to the professionals of the wind energy sector. The additional IMPACTS that the project has generated are: • Impulse to the implementation of e_learning in the sector • Promotion of vocational education activities • Promotion of linguistic diversity in the sector (the serious game is in English, Spanish, Italian and French) • Improving the competitiveness of the sector with the introduction of ICT • Professionalization of workers in the sector • Facilitate the international mobility of professionals among countries LONG-TERM BENEFITS The project will favor the standardization of training for professional qualification in the energy sector at European level. Skillwind has the approval of GWO (Global Wind Organization), a non-profit organization composed by turbine manufacturers and owners of wind turbines. They are a renowned organization in training standards for wind energy, as they have set the “GWO Criteria for Training Providers”. They have been always updated of the development of Skillwind project as they work close with several partners of the project. They have disseminated the novelties of the project within their networks and even participated in the final event in Brussels.