With Women4AGreenEU, a consortium of 9 organizations from 8 different member countries with strong backgrounds in vocational education and training, gender equality and green technology, deep technology and renewable energy have come together under the purpose of jointly developing a multinational and multi-level (local, regional, national and international) strategy to integrate advocacy, policy experimentation and skill development to increase women’s participation in the green technology sector.
The urgency of this project is underscored by the European Green Deal Industrial Plan, which highlights the increasing demand for new skills across all levels of the workforce due to the green transition. The transition from fossil fuel to clean electrical energy means that the battery industry alone is projected to require an additional 800,000 workers by 2025. The solar energy sector employed 648.000 people in the EU in 2022; to reach the EU ambitions this number must reach 1.2 million by 2027. The wind energy industry in the EU employed 300.000 people in 2022 and it is projected to reach 940.000 by 2030. Multiple EU policies, including the Pact for Skills, the Osnabrück Declaration and the Social Rights Action Plan have synergistically come together to help foster people centered initiatives to increase the skill level of the workforce in green jobs.
Addressing this demand necessitates not developing new talent but also tapping into historically overlooked labor sources. Women accounted for only 32% of the workforce in the renewables sector in 2019. This follows a historical under-representation of women in STEM related fields. Attracting more women to green technology jobs will directly help the EU reach its green deal objectives while increasing female representation and employment rate in fields with a promising future.
Project Objectives
Objective 1: Establish and maintain a networked advocacy group
Definition: Integration of gender-focused initiatives within existing educational and workforce development frameworks maintaining strong partnerships with local, regional, and national public authorities. Main focus on VET providers, schools, government bodies, mentors and technology companies
Target value: maintaining strong partnerships with local, regional, and national public authorities.
Objective 2: Develop and refine a mentorship initiative
Definition: an intervention programme in schools and VET providers and a vocational education and training (VET) program specifically
Target value: designed to attract and retain women particularly those who are deciding on their educational pathways (youth) or considering career re-orientation towards green technologies.
Objective 3: Develop a policy assessment framework
Definition: compile and disseminate a comprehensive and scalable blueprint of best practices in gender-inclusive VET strategies and policy frameworks
Target value: policy assessment framework work that enhances women’s participation in green/clean technology sectors.