The project is coming to an end after two years contributing to the European Pact for Skills.
15 partners from 8 countries have supported the large-scale partnership that promotes the improvement of capabilities in the offshore renewable energy sector (ORE).
The legacy of the project will last after its completion, with a strong network of 50 organisations, entities and companies committed to keep working together in ORE skills.
15 partners from 8 countries in Europe have worked for two years on the EU-funded project for the Marine Renewable Energy sector. “Forward Looking at the Offshore Renewables (FLORES) has focused on extending capacity building through specific trainings, promoting careers in the sector.
It has also conducted several studies within its observatory, analyzing the supply and demand for skills and fostering lasting partnerships to ensure the long-term success of this initiative.
“The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) sector currently accounts for around 80,000 jobs, with 124,000 new vacancies expected by 2030. However, to achieve this, we must not only invest in the implementation of marine energies such as wind energy in our waters, but also in professional training, to adapt it to the needs of a sector that will experience unprecedented growth in the coming years. As in many other industries, one of the great challenges is to meet the demand for qualified professionals with the skills of our population. That is where the FLORES project comes in to make a difference”, highlighted Cetmar as project coordinator.
Regarding the activities carried out during the project, the coordinators emphasize:
“We have carried out several studies through our Skills Observatory, in order to know how we should orient these trainings at European level. At the same time, we have developed our own training materials for all age groups, from children to talent managers and technicians in the sector, while at the same time disseminating all the existing training offer in Europe within a unified platform called Marine Training. We also publicize job opportunities in this sector, which offers stable and well-paid careers to young people and workers from other industries, who have an excellent retraining option here”.
All these efforts have been accompanied by regional pilot actions in which training materials have been adapted to the different needs in the Atlantic, Baltic, Mediterranean and North Sea basins; also sowing the seed for future similar groups throughout Europe. The ultimate goal of the FLORES project has been to contribute to the public-private initiative for large-scale renewable energies, integrated within the framework of the European Pact for Skills. This is a group of more than 50 entities, organizations and companies at the European level, working in a coordinated way to continue promoting initiatives such as these, beyond the life of the FLORES project itself. “This is undoubtedly our most important legacy in the project,” conclude the coordinators.
To carry out this ambitious task, 15 organizations from 8 European countries have joined forces: from Spain, CETMAR, Asime and the University of Coruña; from Greece, the Hellas CERTH Research and Technology Center; from Belgium, Windeurope, University of Gent, IndustriAll European Trade Union and European Marine Board; from Ireland, Aqualex Multimedia Consortium; from the Netherlands Deftiq and Bluespring; from Germany, Submariner Network for Blue Growth; from France, the Lycée Fulgence Bienvenüe and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions; and from Italy mareFVG, the Maritime Technology Cluster.
The project has received funding of 700,000 euros from Erasmus+ through the European Executive Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA). It is framed within the actions to promote a European Green Pact, promoting a just transition and clean energy sources.
Key milestones of the FLORES project
Observatory
Studies and reports on learning and training in marine renewable energies.
- Profiles in demand: After analyzing 1,000 job offers in 11 countries, it is concluded that engineers and managers are among the most demanded occupations in the marine renewable energy sector. The five most in-demand occupational groups, along with the top 10 occupations.
- Existing educational resources: Most of the educational resources in Europe are only in English, we need to work on making them accessible in more languages and also make them in more dynamic and attractive formats. There is also room for improvement in expanding the offer for management positions and more online courses, which allow reaching a wider audience.
- Training gaps: There are currently a greater number of programs and courses dedicated specifically to marine renewable energies, but these are not sufficiently focused on project managers and technicians. There is a particularly notable gap in vocational training, which is crucial for the positions in demand today, and more emphasis needs to be placed on apprenticeships to improve employment opportunities for graduates.
- Lifelong learning: FLORES has published a guide to foster lifelong learning for all ages. This compendium of best practices emphasizes the need for more accessible and varied materials, shorter modular courses so that people can adapt to them, innovative pedagogies, and more case studies and simulations.
Job mapping and interviews with professionals in the sector:
Twenty interviews with professionals in the marine renewable energies sector have given greater visibility to these profiles, in order to attract talent to the sector.
Mapping of courses available in Europe
To facilitate access to training resources in different countries, the FLORES project has catalogued them all within the Marine Training platform.
Development of its own free courses, for regional pilot actions
Online training courses have been created for different countries and profiles, in order to put into practice the guides developed by the project.
- Introduction to professional occupations and job design in the marine renewable energy sector: aimed at Talent Managers of different companies and organizations, so that they can learn more about the occupations and professional competences demanded in the sector.
- Ocean Multipurpose: real examples of multipurpose sites in action in different oceans, where activities such as fishing, offshore wind energy, tourism or species farming coexist in harmony, to demonstrate that coexistence is possible.
- Introductory course in marine renewable energies: so that anyone without previous knowledge of the sector can learn the basics of marine renewable energies:
Educational materials for secondary school teachers
In order to make this sector visible and attractive to new generations, FLORES has published a set of educational materials on the different marine renewable energies that exist. These materials are aimed at secondary school teachers, so that they can easily bring these topics to their classrooms and integrate them into the school curriculum.
Card game for children
To make these jobs visible and attractive to children, a card game has been created in which they can discover 18 interesting and potentially unusual job profiles that contribute to offshore renewable energy.
Large Scale Partnership
50 organizations, companies and entities have signed the pact to continue boosting skills in the sector beyond the life of the FLORES project.
Dissemination events, conferences and workshops
During these two years, the project partners have organized and participated in various forums and events for all types of audiences, from talks in schools to top-level conferences, to publicize the results of the project and raise awareness of the need to boost training in this booming sector.
