The Naturgy Foundation, Just Transition Institute and Technical University of Madrid launch the second photovoltaic system training course for unemployed women

Today, María Eugenia Coronado, managing director of the Naturgy Foundation; Laura Martín, director of the Just Transition Institute (ITJ); Antonio de Luis Acevedo, managing director of the National Training for Employment Foundation (FUNDAE); and Manuel Sierra Castañer, director of the School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSIT) at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) inaugurated the second professional training course in solar photovoltaic system installation and maintenance, aimed exclusively at unemployed women

The training programme is part of the agreement that the Naturgy Foundation and the ITJ signed last year to promote training and job creation in the framework of a just energy transition.

The training, which covers both theory and practical experience and led 40% of participants to find employment following the first edition, is recognised by a certificate of achievement and enables participating students to enter the labour market immediately.

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 course, which will take place between April and July on the UPM campus, consists of 210 hours, part of which will be spent as internships in companies in the sector. The training will be given by active professionals and UPM teachers. It will be recognised by the Naturgy Foundation and the UPM, in collaboration with the Green Employment Platform and the ITJ.

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.

María Eugenia Coronado, managing director of the Naturgy Foundation, stressed the importance of promoting training activities that increase the amount of female talent in the energy sector. “The main objective of our Vocational Training for Employability programme is to provide the future professionals of our sector with qualifications”, explained Coronado, who believes that “training courses like the one we are launching today help balance the presence of women in the area of sustainability and renewable energies, which offers great opportunities for green employment”.

The director of the ITJ, Laura Martín, pointed out that “this programme combines two priorities related to the just transition, training and job creation in new professions derived from the energy transition and gender equality”, and added that “the fact that 40% of participants found employment following the first edition shows that we should continue with and scale up this initiative”.

Antonio de Luis Acevedo, managing director of FUNDAE, pointed out that “government bodies are aware of both the need for training in companies involved in the energy transition and the need to facilitate women’s participation in this transition. To this end we have Digitalízate, an initiative in collaboration with the Public State Employment Service (SEPE) that the EU has recognised as a good practice for the digitisation of companies and offers more than 1,500 free training resources from leading technology companies as well as microcredits, especially in the line of people, where you can get a €600 microcredit for training in new skills for digital, green or productive transformation”.

Manuel Sierra Castañer, director of the ETSIT at the UPM, stressed the importance of training that covers theory and practical experience in the field of photovoltaic solar energy for women. “This training programme gives us a slightly different space that has many important aspects: it deals with sustainable development, attracts women to our area of study and opens us up to a sector that has not traditionally been involved in the university”, he said. He added that their presence at ETSIT “is an opportunity to be able to continue contributing to the development of our country”.

The Naturgy Foundation Vocational Training Programme for Employability

The Naturgy Foundation is strongly committed to promoting the training of young people, unemployed people and professionals who would like to update their skills 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 95,674 students and professionals.

The Foundation has 9 training modules that provide students with state-of-the-art technical knowledge and certification in areas such as sustainable mobility, sustainable rehabilitation and building construction, renewable gasses, the digitalisation of electricity networks, power consulting in vulnerable environments, installation and maintenance of solar panels, installation and maintenance of wind farms, green and digital gas networks, and sustainability applied to the productive system.

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 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, Vocational Training and Sport, the administrations responsible for education and employment in nine autonomous regions, the SEPE, the National Training for Employment Foundation (FUNDAE) and the National Qualifications Institute (INCUAL).