International cooperation for sustainable energy education
SEED Transnational Meeting in Bochum
On April 24th and 25th, the Sustainable Technologies Laboratory at Bochum University of Applied Sciences welcomed international guests. The project partners of the SEED (Sustainable Energy Education) research project gathered in Bochum to achieve important milestones in the project and to plan the next steps for the coming months. The main objective of SEED is to enhance vocational education in the field of sustainable energies. This is intended to be achieved through optimizing proven practices, fostering international exchange, and establishing regional Centers of Vocational Excellence (CoVE).
From the Netherlands, researchers and educators from University of Applied Sciences Utrecht and ROC Midden Nederland vocational school, as well as members of the organization Katapult and employees of Royal HaskoningDHV, traveled to the event. Finland was represented by members of Turku University of Applied Sciences and the Raisio Regional Education and Training Consortium (Raseko). Researchers from the Technical University of Valencia, the Regional Directorate General for Vocational Training of Valencia (GVA), and the organization avaesen traveled from Spain. Representing Greece were members of the Bioeconomy & Environment Cluster Western Macedonia (CluBE) and researchers and educators from the University of Western Macedonia.
After being welcomed by the Vice President for Studies, Teaching, and Continuing Education, Prof. Dr. Claudia Frohn-Schauf, and receiving insights into the further education offerings of the university, the consortium dedicated the first day to a workshop focusing on international and regional collaboration, emphasizing the opportunities for mutual benefit. A significant milestone for the project was the selection of Good Practices. In the SEED project, 16 such Good Practices in the field of renewable energy from five different regions are represented. Each region will adopt one Good Practice from another region by the end of the project. In Bochum, each region presented their selection of Good Practices, and discussions were held on possible combinations. Additionally, the international guests were introduced to the university's THALES project and the Sustainable Energy Impact project study, which represents one of the 16 selected Good Practices.
On the second day of the Transnational Meeting, regional developments and the establishment of the CoVE took center stage. Each region initially presented its individual goals and the intended model for corporate governance. These plans are to be documented in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the regional partner companies in the future. Another highlight of the project was the completion of the Regional Development Plan, which the project partners had been working on in recent months. In a workshop, the goals and planned timeline for implementation were presented. The regions had the opportunity to exchange ideas and provide feedback. To conclude the meeting and to further explore the city of Bochum, the consortium participated in a guided tour at the German Mining Museum.
