Naturgy Foundation, the Just Transition Institute and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid launch the first photovoltaic installation training course aimed solely at unemployed women

The Naturgy Foundation, the ITJ and UPM have launched the first photovoltaic systems installation vocational training course aimed solely at unemployed women. The technical-practical training will be certified and will provide students with the skills they need for immediate entry into the labour market.

The aim of this initiative is to foster equality in terms of access to new jobs linked to the roll out of renewable energy, environmental conservation and sustainability, sectors that offer new opportunities stemming from the energy transition.

The 210-hour course will take place from June to October at the UPM campus, and includes work placements in companies in the sector. The training will be given by active professionals and UPM teachers. It will be certified by both Naturgy Foundation and UPM in partnership with ITJ’s Platform for Employment and Green Entrepreneurship.

This training, which will come under UPM’s Permanent Training Service, is part of the Naturgy Foundation’s Vocational Training for Employability initiative, and has been offered to women registered with the ITJ’s job bank.

ITJ director Laura Martín underlined the importance of directing efforts towards training and the professional re-qualification of women to prepare them for new jobs in the emerging niche markets linked to the energy transition. “Training is key to breaking down the unemployment barrier and to advance in equality. Power generation has traditionally been hugely male dominated. Barely 2% of the people registered with our mining job bank are women, and in the thermal power plant job bank the figure is less than 7%. Here at IJT, it is our conviction that women have a crucial role to play in the transition towards a fairer and more sustainable economy, and we thank the Naturgy Foundation and UPM for the support they are giving us in this endeavour”,

Naturgy Foundation Managing Director María Eugenia Coronado stressed the importance of promoting training activities that allow more women to enter the energy sector. “The energy transition is creating new green job opportunities and it is vitally important to train new professionals in the area of sustainability and renewable energy”, explained Coronado, who considers that by “promoting vocational training with a gender perspective we are facilitating the entry of women into the sector, thereby helping to reduce the gender gap in energy”.

UPM’s Vice-rector of Strategy and Academic Planning, Fernando Vela Cossio, pointed out that aside from being responsible for the higher education of young people through its official undergraduate and master’s degree programmes, the university must play a fundamental role in training people who, at different life stages, need a professional qualification that is entirely different from their previous career. To this effect, he explained that “in conjunction with the university centres, UPM’s Permanent Training Service will take part in numerous employment training programmes with the Community of Madrid and the Public State Employment Service, and in partnership with the private sector.”

Vela Cossio said that this Naturgy Foundation-ITJ initiative is a great example of this partnership, and is especially opportune for linking renewable energies and female employment, and that all that remains is “to congratulate the organisers for making this possible, and the students for taking this step forwards. Above all, we wish the latter success on the course and in their next career stage”.

The Naturgy Foundation Vocational Training Programme for Employability

The Naturgy Foundation has made a firm commitment to promoting the training of young people, unemployed people and professionals who would like to update their skills acquisition in line with the technological transformation of the energy sector. Its Vocational Training for Employability programme improves the readiness of the sector’s future professionals, facilitating their entry into the labour market. Since its launch in 2018, the programme has provided free courses that have benefited over 50,000 students and professionals.

The training the power company foundation offers provides students with state-of-the-art technical knowledge and certification in areas such as sustainable mobility, sustainable rehabilitation and building construction, renewable gasses, digitalisation of electricity networks, power consultation for vulnerable environments, installation and maintenance of solar panels, and green and digital gas networks, among others.

The Naturgy Foundation has also produced previously unpublished educational resources designed for training professionals and compiled together with specialists in each subject matter. Its most current publications are the technical-practical textbooks “Vocational Education and Training in Energy, Vocational Training for Employability”, and their adaptation to the e-learning training courses it has produced together with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).

This Naturgy Foundation training opportunity is aligned with the Just Transition Strategy and is recognised and supported by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, the administrations responsible for education and employment in nine autonomous regions, the Public State Employment Service (SEPE), the National Training for Employment Foundation (FUNDAE and the National Qualifications Institute (INCUAL).

Naturgy Foundation

The Naturgy Foundation, created in 1992, develops social action programmes to mitigate energy poverty as part of Naturgy’s Vulnerability Plan. It also encourages serious and rigorous debate on topics related to energy and the environment through seminars, publications and reports, and it has a broad educational programme on matters of energy and the environment.