National Workshop in Portugal (January 2023)

On January 31, 2023, the Portuguese SECOVE team organized a National workshop on the “Creation of a Vocational Excellence Centre in the area of sustainable energies” at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto in Portugal.

The partners involved in the workshop included:

• ENERGAIA – AGENCIA DE ENERGIA DO SUL DA REA METROPOLITANA DO PORTO
• INOVA+ – INNOVATION SERVICES, SA
• INSTITUTO POLITECNICO DO PORTO (host)
• OMEGAFLOW – SOLUÇÕES DE ENGENHARIA LDA

The workshop aimed to promote a structured dialogue on excellence in sustainable energy at CοVE, inviting local and regional stakeholders to discuss the challenges and needs of professional training in this area. Around 27 stakeholders from 17 clusters participated in the workshop, including business representatives, professional education providers and partnership members.

The workshop addressed three main themes:

• The definition of excellence in professional education
• The challenges and needs of different stakeholders
• Innovative training approaches

During the brainstorming session, participants presented key ideas, such as the ability to follow trends, the need for lifelong learning, the relevance of training for the job market, the importance of networking/collaboration and the need of innovation, quality, adaptability, and engaging training.

Among the challenges most debated by the different stakeholders were:

• the lack of adherence by students to courses related to renewable and sustainable energies,
• the low valuation of professional training,
• the need to reconcile different training paths,
• the review and update of the national catalogue of qualifications,
• the promotion of the attractiveness of the labour market,
• the lack of structures for counselling and professional insertion.

They also highlighted the importance of improving the identification of needs in companies and the need for trainers and facilitators to be able to motivate trainees, as well as the development of critical thinking skills.

Workshop Results

The results of the workshop showed that SECOVE can contribute to a vision of excellence in professional training by acting in three major areas/themes.

Firstly, you can analyze the training offer in sustainable energies and identify the skills associated with these themes. Then you can map the various professions/sectors in which they should be introduced, and include skills in sustainability and renewable energies in various courses in other areas.

Secondly, it can act to improve the image, enhance professional education, and raise awareness of its advantages. This can be done by greater intervention with parents/guardians, greater intervention/promotion/information with young people, reinforcement of vocational guidance and appreciation of professional training in the world of work.

Thirdly, networking can be established through:

• The establishment of contacts between VET entities and companies/labour market
• Collaboration between various training entities
• Contact with guidance structures and inclusion in the labour market
• Greater contact/interaction with young people to know what they want to learn and do
• Greater contact and questioning of entities with political responsibilities

Evaluation

The evaluation of the workshop showed that the participants were satisfied with:

• the information provided before the workshop
• the objective of the workshop
• the content presented
• the planning and workload
• the levels of interaction between the participants
• the contribution, and the role of the organization in the project
• the facilities and infrastructure provided, and the event in general

Most of the participants that were invited to participate in the workshop, were interested in its theme, the SECOVE project and other projects promoted by the SECOVE project

  Participants engaged in activities such as designing and programming autonomous robots, creating 3D signs, developing machine learning programs, building VR demos, constructing smart cities, exploring AI technologies, and mastering video editing. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with students showing a significant increase in interest in STEM subjects, igniting a passion for future exploration and careers in technology.