The FLORES project releases report on repository of educational materials on Offshore Renewables

The EU-funded project “Forward Looking at the Offshore Renewable Energies” (FLORES) feeds into the European Pact for Skills. It promotes a strong large-scale partnership to foster upskilling and reskilling of Europeans from all ages in Offshore Renewable Energies (ORE).

As part of this cross-country initiative, the FLORES team has released a repository of training materials aimed at enhancing skills in the Offshore Renewable Energies (ORE) sector, which is crucial for meeting the growing demand in this field.

“The FLORES project is actively developing a comprehensive and standardized e-repository of training materials for the Offshore Renewable Energies (ORE) sector, aiming to enhance skills and support workforce development. By fostering lifelong learning and providing accessible resources for educators and trainers, we seeks to prepare the workforce for the growing demands in the ORE industry, ultimately contributing to a sustainable energy future”.

• The initiative is part of the Pact for Skills focused on the offshore renewables.
• It aims to support between 20,000 and 54,000 new workers expected in this industry in the next 5 years.
• The report provides insights into training materials compiled under the FLORES project to promote ORE related careers as well as lifelong learning in ORE.

What kind of training materials are included in the repository?

The repository includes a variety of training materials designed for use in the Offshore Renewable Energies (ORE) sector. Specifically, the training resources comprise:

1. Types of Learning Resources: The repository contains both text-based and audio-visual materials, in diverse formats. These are intended for both formal and informal educational settings.
2. Topics Covered: The materials focus on key areas within the ORE sector, including but not limited to offshore wind energy, tidal energy, wave energy, and thermal energy.
3. User Roles and Levels: Resources are categorized by intended user roles, accommodating different audiences such as educators, trainers, and learners of varying experience and qualifications.
4. Quality and Accessibility: Each resource is tagged with metadata covering aspects like the type, format, language of instruction, copyright license, interactivity level, and target audience age range and level, to ensure they can be easily accessed and effectively reused by the community involved in ORE training.

The repository aims to facilitate access to these diverse training materials, supporting educators’ and trainers’ efforts in the ORE sector 

What are the main findings?

Amost 50 training/educational materials were analysed.

• Language: Almost 70% of the learning resources are available in English, only a minority being available in the other languages found (in order of appearance: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German).
• Resource type: 50% of the resources are either ‘lectures’ (25%) or exercise/narrative text (25%), with the remainder of the resources including simulations, narrative text, games, etc.
• Learning format: the majority is formed by text documents, some of them in combination with PowerPoint presentations, confirming the rather traditional use of resources, suitable mainly for face to face training delivery contexts.
• Intended user: Most of the training materials are intended for learners (55%). A few materials are intended for ‘managers’, these kind of resources in our data refer to policy and science briefs, and reports.
• Copyright License: All the resources were assigned the ‘broader’ CC license (4.0 International), however the vast majority indicates no commercial use allowed. This means that anyone reusing the learning resources are required to give credit to the creator. Furthermore, the majority of resources (29) allow others to reuse the original work only for non-commercial purposes. Only 6 resources can be reused for commercial purposes.
• ISCED Level: 27% are for Primary education, 21% for secondary education and 21% for tertiary education.
• ISCED Categories (Topics): The top 4 topics were: 0713 – Offshore and Renewable Energy (37 resources), 0188 – Ocean Literacy (8 resources), 0715 – Machinery and Operators (6 resources), and 0311 – Maritime Economy

How does this initiative aim to improve workforce skills in the ORE sector?

The initiative aims to improve workforce skills in the Offshore Renewable Energies (ORE) sector through several key strategies:

1. Creation of a Standardized E-Repository: The FLORES project has developed a standardized e-repository for learning materials, which serves as a community-driven catalog of best practices and training resources. This makes it easier for educators and trainers to access high-quality materials relevant to ORE.
2. Collection of Diverse Training Resources: By gathering a wide array of training materials that cover various topics in the ORE sector, the initiative contributes to the Open Educational Resources Process, ensuring that educators and trainers have the necessary resources to deliver comprehensive training. This diversity caters to different learning styles and audience needs.
3. Focus on Lifelong Learning: The report emphasizes promoting lifelong learning in the ORE sector, which is critical for continuous skill development. The repository provides resources that can be reused and adapted for both current and future workforce training.
4. Increased Accessibility: The resources in the repository are classified with metadata, making them easily searchable and accessible. This facilitates the use of these resources by a wider audience, which helps in building a more skilled workforce.
5. Outreach and Engagement: The initiative includes outreach materials to improve access to more training resources and encourages the use of e-learning platforms to deliver training. These efforts are aimed at enhancing the overall quality and amount of resources available for ORE training, supporting both new staff and those seeking to upgrade their skills.
6. Alignment with International Standards: The project aligns with the 2019 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Educational Resources, further promoting openness and accessibility in educational resources.

Through these approaches, the initiative seeks to adequately prepare the workforce for the growing demands of the ORE sector, supporting both the current and future labour market needs.

Access the repository of ORE traning materials

See the report on existing training offers