Skills Development Recommendations

 First ‘Skills Development Recommendations’ to promote regional Marine
Renewable Skills base
Task 3 of WP5 from the MERiFIC Project
A report prepared as part of the MERiFIC Project
"Marine Energy in Far Peripheral and Island Communities"
July 2013 v.1
Written by
Phil Monbet
Pole Mer Bretagne (philippe.monbet@pole-mer-bretagne.com)
Stéphane Alain Riou Pole Mer Bretagne (stephane.riou@pole-mer-bretagne.com)
MERiFIC was selected under the European Cross-Border Cooperation Programme
INTERREG IV A France (Channel) – England, co-funded by the ERDF.
The sole responsibility for the content of this report lies with the authors. It does not
represent the opinion of the European Communities. The European Commission is
not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
© Example Organisation, March 2012
Executive summary
This report presents the first main recommendations in order to promote and
showcase the facilities and the training schemes that exist across the peripheral
regions (Cornwall and Finistère), and to encourage the development of a strong skills
base to support the marine renewable energy emerging sector. It describes the
content, the target audience and the main tools that could be implemented to fulfil this
task.
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Contents
1
Background / context.......................................................................................................5
2
Communication and dissemination objectives ................................................................6
3
Target audience ..............................................................................................................6
3.1
Primary target audience ..................................................................................6
3.2
Secondary target audience .............................................................................7
4
Key messages to be disseminated..................................................................................7
5
Communication and dissemination tools.......................................................................11
6
5.1
Website .........................................................................................................11
5.2
Leaflet and newsletter ...................................................................................12
5.3
Other activities...............................................................................................13
5.4
Coordination ..................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................14
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Introduction
The MERiFIC Project
MERiFIC is an EU project linking Cornwall and Finistère through the ERDF INTERREG IVa
France (Manche) England programme. The project seeks to advance the adoption of
marine energy in Cornwall and Finistère, with particular focus on the island communities of
the Parc naturel marin d’Iroise and the Isles of Scilly. Project partners include Cornwall
Council, University of Exeter, University of Plymouth and Cornwall Marine Network from the
UK, and Conseil général du Finistère, Pôle Mer Bretagne, Technôpole Brest Iroise,
IFREMER and Bretagne Développement Innovation from France.
MERiFIC was launched on 13th September at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall and
runs until June 2014. During this time, the partners aim to

Develop and share a common understanding of existing marine energy resource
assessment techniques and terminology;

Identify significant marine energy resource ‘hot spots’ across the common area,
focussing on the island communities of the Isles of Scilly and Parc Naturel Marin
d’Iroise;

Define infrastructure issues and requirements for the deployment of marine energy
technologies between island and mainland communities;

Identify, share and implement best practice policies to encourage and support the
deployment of marine renewables;

Identify best practice case studies and opportunities for businesses across the two
regions to participate in supply chains for the marine energy sector;

Share best practices and trial new methods of stakeholder engagement, in order to
secure wider understanding and acceptance of the marine renewables agenda;

Develop and deliver a range of case studies, tool kits and resources that will assist
other regions.
To facilitate this, the project is broken down into a series of work packages:
WP1: Project Preparation
WP2: Project Management
WP3: Technology Support
WP4: Policy Issues
WP5: Sustainable Economic Development
WP6: Stakeholder Engagement
WP7: Communication and Dissemination
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Background / context
Marine Renewable Energies (MRE) is set to become a major industry in Europe. In particular, the
maritime regions of Cornwall (UK) and Finistère (FR) are in a primary position to benefit from the
expected growth of the sector, as they provide substantial wind, wave and tidal resources. However,
despite being identified as a key priority from both regions, the development of MRE will face several
challenges in term of technology, social acceptance, environmental issues or supply chain.
In the above context, an essential part of this growing supply chain is personnel and related skills.
The implementation and on-going development of marine renewable energies is expected to create
job opportunities across a wide range of sectors, thus covering a broad skills base.
An inventory of existing training schemes established on both regions has been carried out (see link FR and link - UK). A particular focus has been carried out on ‘dedicated’ MRE trainings i.e. training
schemes that aims specifically at teaching marine renewable energy core knowledge and that usually
requires hybrid skillsets. However, a broader and more conventional skills base has been investigate
to inventory the relevant (but not strictly dedicated) training schemes to MRE (eg welder,
boilermaker, electrical/mechanical technician, health and safety officer …). Overall, a substantial
range of skills and a wide range of qualification’s level are concerned, resulting in a fragmentary
picture of the MRE needed skill base.
Findings of a workshop on skills development to support MRE sector, organised by Pole Mer
Bretagne in October 2012, are also presented in a recent MERiFIC document. This workshop was
hosted at Sea Tech Week 2012 (Brest, France - http://www.seatechweek.com), bringing together
MERiFIC partners but also delegates from the academic community, industry and the public sector to
discuss about (1) training gaps and needs to promote MRE economic development and (2) a
strategy to develop promotional tools for showcasing facilities and training courses that exist from
both side of the English channel.
This report sets out the first and main recommendations with regards to the implementation of the
strategy to showcase facilities and training schemes from both side of the English Channel. This is to
tackle the problem of missing specialists (e.g. technicians and engineers) through the career paths
promotion, to avoid any skills shortage and allow a smooth regional development of MRE.
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Communication and dissemination objectives
The overall communication’s aim is to ‘increase the awareness of regional existing strength in
term of training schemes and facilities to promote a sustainable economic development of
MRE’. This is done to prevent skills shortages that could possibly impact on company’s productivity
and development.
To fulfil this overall objective, the following four key axis have been established:
-
Disseminate key messages and information to selected and relevant
audience groups,
-
Involve regional and industrial stakeholders as well as training entities
in the development of the communication tools,
-
Provide relevant and appropriate documentation, tools and links,
-
Improve visibility and awareness of regionally available jobs and
training schemes and facilities to secure the supply chain.
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3.1
Target audience
Primary target audience
To efficiently promote and showcase the existing facilities and training schemes available regionally,
the primary target audience has been defined as the MRE stakeholders. The figure 1 presents the
supply chain classically identified for MRE. It encompasses a wide range of aspects and therefore a
wide range of job is also related.
Figure 1: Supply chain segmentation approach
Due to the diversity of processes as well as the required backgrounds involved, the sustainable
development of MRE technologies (figure 1) is challenging in term of workforce issues. Links
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between training structures and industry are currently fragmented. Moreover, as the sector is going
forward, the predicted growth might greatly exacerbate these workforce issues. To develop and
maintain a continuous availability of a skilled workforce, ongoing engagement with academic
institutions is necessary.
Professional organisations such as clusters, corporations, organisations in charge of continuing
education, consular bodies are also a primary target audience. Indeed, these organisations and
bodies usually help to reduce the fragmentation that currently exists between the emerging MRE
sector
and
training
organisations/structures.
Central
nodes
through
which
training
organisations/structures and industry can connect are essential. On one hand, training
organisations/structures get to know better the industry and their required skill needs, and on the
other hand companies can more easily identify the best options to develop their workforce.
Finally, students (including engineering schools, universities through post/under - graduates and
schools and maritime academy/school) can also be considered as a primary target audience.
3.2
Secondary target audience
A secondary and additional audience is considered to be the decision and policy makers such as
regional councils or public organisations that are in charge of, or closely related to education
schemes. National and European key players invested in ‘Blue Growth’ strategy as well as lobbying
bodies in favour to ‘green energy’ are also relevant secondary audiences.
Because the above target groups are not homogenous group of people, it might require a distinct in
term of strategy using targeted messages, means and language. Basically the level of involvement
with the primary audience will require some consultation and information phases, as for the
secondary audience, only information will be exchanged.
4
Key messages to be disseminated
There are key messages and information that need to be communicated and disseminated. The first
of them is focused on employment and related jobs that ultimately are the outcomes of most of the
training schemes. Unlike the traditional power sector, renewables and in particular marine
renewables is attractive. Indeed, choosing a career either in wind, wave or tidal energy usually
means working towards a brighter, more sustainable future as well as helping to safeguard the
planet. This also means working in an industry using cutting-edge technology and bringing career
opportunities in a wide range of interesting and challenging jobs. MRE Projects require a variety of
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skills, with staff employed in everything from research and development, to construction and
maintenance. Behind the scenes, there are also a growing number of professional support roles,
from human resources (HR) and finance, to administration and facilities management. An example of
range of exciting job opportunities can be envisaged from Figure 2 that shows the lifecycle of an
offshore windfarm.
Figure 2: Lifecycle of an offshore windfarm (The Crown Estate, Your career in offshore wind energy – 2010)
The second main message that needs to be disseminated is that regional territories such as Cornwall
and Finistère (and to a larger extent Brittany) possess substantial capacities to train people to
support the sustainable development of MRE and its supply chain. Brittany has already started to
promote this asset through a guide and a dedicated website (http://www.invest-in-bretagne.org/ocean-energy-.html). An example of this guide is given on figure 3.
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Figure 3: Brittany training programme related to MRE (Bretagne’s MRE industry: skills on offer - 2013)
The third message is related to the fact that regional territories such as Cornwall and Finistère (and
to a larger extent SE England and Brittany / Pays de la Loire) possess a number a facilities to
support the sustainable development of MRE. These facilities have been mapped within the
framework of MERiFIC. Details are available on the MERiFIC website through an interactive map
(Fig. 4, interactive map). Awareness about these facilities clearly needs to be increased, as they
represent a valuable and unique regional asset across the Channel to succeed in the MRE industry
for peripheral regions.
Figure 4: MRE relevant facilities (www.merific.eu/documents/work-package-3-technology-support/3-4-test-facilities)
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Finally, providing an exhaustive inventory of training schemes (from apprenticeship to PhD)
dedicated or relevant to MRE in accordance with the sector needs is crucial. An interesting initiative
has been developed by the Aqua-RET consortium 1 : A Competence Mapping Tool for the marine
renewables sector (available at www.aquaret.com/cmt). The Competence Mapping Tool (CMT) is an
innovative online custom-made software tool enabling visualisation of the sub-sectors, occupations
and competences in the marine renewable energy sector. The CMT has two interfaces
(competences mapping and courses). The ‘Courses’ interface is presented in four categories: (1)
MRE Sub-sector, (2) associated occupations displayed for each of the sub-sectors, (3) associated
competences displayed for the occupations and (4) associated courses which provide the
competences. A screenshot from this website is displayed in figure 5.
Figure 5: Screenshot from the CMT (www.aquaret.com/cmt/)
1
AquaTT, (Ireland - Consortium Leader), Aquatera (UK), La Tene Maps (Ireland), Centre for Renewable
Energy Sources and Saving (CRES) (Greece), European Ocean Energy Association (EU-OEA) (Belgium) and
Wave Energy Centre (WavEC) (Portugal)
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Briefly, this tool can be used by various audiences: employers, employees, training organisations,
awarding bodies and individuals. Employers can use the CMT to form the basis of job descriptions
and roles and aid in staff recruitment. It can also be used for staff development in terms of skills
analysis to identify gaps in skills and knowledge in existing staff. It can be used by training
organisations to identify gaps in their curriculum and inform the development of new courses. The
tool can be also used by awarding bodies by facilitating the development of new courses and also as
a means to help recognise both formal and informal learning in terms of knowledge, skills and
competences. Finally, the CMT can be used by employees and individuals to identify competences
that they have which could be transferred to other sub-sectors and also to identify competences that
they may not have but which are necessary for them to progress further in their career. Users from
ancillary sectors can identify competences they have which are relevant for various sub-sectors of
the marine renewable energy sector.
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Communication and dissemination tools
The main tool that is recommended to use is a dedicated website as it provides the right template to
present and disseminate the key massages cited above. However, some other tools such as leaflet,
newsletter, smart phone application, events (including knowledge transfer meetings), social networks
and media in general could be considered, but are not the top priority.
5.1
Website
As a main tool, the website should represent a common platform about jobs and training skills and
should allow a better internal communication in between involved partners that will contribute to
populate this database.
Its aim should serve as a knowledge platform for the target audience, including primarily the different
jobs details related to MRE as well as the training schemes available in both regions (Cornwall and
Finistère) for the sustainable development of MRE. The specifically dedicated training schemes will
also be included on a larger perimeter (i.e. national). Content could be both in English and French.
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The specific content of the website should mostly include details and links about:
-
MRE jobs (covering the whole MRE supply chain)
-
dedicated doctorate training
-
dedicated and relevant engineering training
-
dedicated and relevant postgraduate training
-
dedicated and relevant undergraduate training
-
relevant apprenticeship schemes
-
different way of knowledge transfer
-
professional and academic exchange
-
…
Some specific functions of the website should also include:
-
Links to other relevant websites (such as whatuni.com, www.ucas.com,
www.findaphd.com,
nadoz.com,
etudiantsdelamer.com
www.findamasters.com,
www.thinkpowersector.co.uk/jobs, www.seavision.org.uk /…)
-
Links with MRE professional social network such as linkedin or Viadeo
-
online newsletter
-
agenda with dedicated events
-
testimonials
-
success stories
Finally, an appropriate referencing is also essential. Placement on search engines is important in
order for the website to be visited and generate traffic. Usually, the main steps to being found by
search engines are:
5.2
-
ensure the website has high-quality information
-
help search engines to find the website
-
encourage others to link to you
-
identify relevant keywords for which the website will be found
-
place these keywords in prime locations (headlines, url…)
-
ensure a search-friendly web site architecture
-
frequently update the website
Leaflet and newsletter
Despite being less important than the website, tools like leaflet and newsletter are able to increase
the dissemination of information for the promotion of regional competences and skills for the
sustainability of MRE. Content for these communication tools could be both in English and French.
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Other activities
It mainly consists to be represented at major or relevant events to MRE training issues. It also a
matter of keeping a close relationship with MRE association such as EWEA (The European Wind
Energy Association), OES (Ocean Energy Systems), OREC (Ocean Renewable Energy Coalition),
MRIA (Marine Renewables Industry Association), EOEA (European Ocean Energy Association),
Renewable UK, etc…
5.4
Coordination
The website coordination, including setup, maintenance and content update is an action for the
whole community. So it should ideally supported by public funding. As clusters usually sits at the
heart of technologies driving excellence in skills and bringing together employers, skills organisations
and stakeholders, they are naturally eligible to coordinate this initiative along with regional structure
directly involved in training strategy policy.
An inspiring initiative is this developed in England with National Skills Academies (NSA). The English
Government has initiated NSA to address the need for a world-class workforce with better skills;
employer-led centres of excellence, delivering the skills required by each sector of the economy.
Figure 6: National Skills Academy for Power goals (left) as well as initiatives, products and services
(right) (Corporate Brochure - 2011)
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National Skills Academies work with Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) and other industry bodies to drive
change and achieve priorities identified by employers for their sector. They act as a first point of
contact for employers to quality-assured training provision. Their solutions and services are
presented in figure 6.
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Conclusion
This report summaries the first main recommendations in order to promote and showcase the
facilities and the training schemes that exist across the peripheral regions (Cornwall and Finistère)
and their islands, and to encourage the development of a strong skills base to support the marine
renewable energy emerging sector. It provides an identification of the target audiences, the
messages that should be disseminated, and recommends tools and contents that should be
implemented as well as coordination management advices. It also refers to examples and inspiring
initiatives that should certainly be taken into account when the communication strategy will be
implemented.
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