“Energy transition,” the transformation of how energy is produced and consumed, has emerged in Europe from the conviction that in order to address existing climate challenges we must both reduce energy consumption and replace fossil fuels with renewable energies. Challenges in engineering and ICT are increasingly entering the domain of energy transition. The primary challenge is to accommodate energy transition in the existing electrical power system. Available technologies are e.g. nuclear fuel (uranium) and the renewable energy sources wind, hydropower, solar power, geothermal, and hydro energy. Energy transition requires innovation in business and industry, developing new technologies and products. This will have an impact on companies involved as producers, but also on consumers of energy, both private and public. New technologies require new knowledge and production methods, thus having a great impact on vocational education. VET students and teachers will not only have to be aware of developments and know about technical innovations, but they will also have to be able to use and innovate them. In this project, we will further develop the concept of hybrid education in close cooperation of VET institutions and companies. Educational content and the curriculum will be developed in co-creation. The project will deliver a general teacher’s handbook on implementing energy transition issues into the curriculum. Partners will develop prototypes for 14 didactic technical models with accompanying learning materials in the shape of introductory, specific and collaborative modules. These models will be usable for levels 2, 3 and 4, and where feasible level 5. Partners will provide each model with didactic instructions. Subsequently, teachers and students will build the models according to specifications and use them in actual practice. Another deliverable is didactic training of VET teachers on how to use these models and training materials efficiently and effectively. The handbook will also set out ways of transferring the outputs of the project to other VET providers and guarantee sustainability. Partners will involve students in piloting the products, in international exchange and virtually in between project activities. The enormous impact of energy transition will mean that the traditional group of VET students will no longer be sufficient to cover all the industry’s needs for trained staff. Additionally, we shall be targeting new target groups through upskilling and re-skilling, thus investing in life long development for those who are already working, but also for those with a distance to the labour market. This inclusive concept means that the materials developed in the project will be used both in regular VET and in in-company and commercial training. In contrast to many other projects, we shall also take along level 2 students, since they are the most vulnerable on the labour market. The project will involve developing innovative pedagogies and methods for learning and teaching in the field of energy transition. Hybrid education as it is developing requires different forms of project-based learning. Most partners have already been experimenting with these. The added international dimension will give a boost to this, since partners will be able to use each other’s inventions and innovations. We’ll be building on concepts already developed, such as Energy Transition Houses, forms of hybrid education and project based learning, involving co-creation of education and industry. The networks already in place will be informed about the project and asked to contribute actively. VET teachers will be better equipped to train future students, companies will benefit from innovative approaches of training and upskilling staff for rapid developments in energy transition. It is inevitable that education should take steps to train the work force of the future in an innovative manner, contribute to public awareness of energy issues and contribute to upskilling and reskilling of employees and the unemployed. In this project we shall be doing just that in a European dimension. Seven VET partners from four European countries (The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Spain, Basque Country included) will cooperate closely to move this topic forward by educating teachers, students and the general public about energy transition, using modern didactic methods in a hybrid educational environment, joining forces of education and business to contribute to upskilling, reskilling and innovation. Levels 2 through 5 of VET / HVET will benefit from this.
VET colleges have the task to provide the work force of the future with the necessary skill and competences. The main objective was to create content for the curriculum for technical students, this material had to be useful for all levels in VET. Through working with the materials we wanted to provide teachers with innovative and interesting materials so students will better understand new technologies. Also for the VET teachers have to be better equipped to train future students, as for the teachers this is also unknown territory. Teachers meeting each other, learning from each other and being trained to work with the outcomes was an important goal. As different regions in Europa have different focusses, it was logical to develop the materials in an international setting. We wanted also companies to benefit from innovative approaches of training and upskilling staff for rapid developments in energy transition. An extra goal was was to connect students in internationalisation@home projects by making a smart version of the models. We think that hybrid learning is the best way to do so. In the first LTTA meeting we gave a workshop about the concept and discussed the way to work. Students were actively involved in building the models.
Energy transition is a key issue in the EU, and it requires innovation in business and industry, developing new technologies. New technologies require new knowledge and production methods, thus having a great impact on the labour force that work with the technological equipment. There is a big role for vocational education. VET students and teachers will not only have to be aware of developments and know about technical innovations, but they will also have to be able to use and innovate them. Educational content has to be created, to help students understand and be trained in the background and maintenance of these new technologies. As a group of VET colleges we wanted to be in the front lines of this new development and planned this project to train teachers and students in the field of renewable energy. In the project we delivered the materials needed to train students in the new techniques. This material will be usable for levels 2, 3 and 4, and where feasible level 5. Partners have involved students in the construction phase and in piloting the models, in international exchange in the LTTA meeting. For the future we want to use the models in online projects. We are working on SMART applications to do so.