Bridging the Skills Gap of Workers in the Offshore Renewable Energies Industry by Creating a set of Guidelines to Promote Innovative Training

The Offshore Renewable Energies (ORE) Industry is an emerging industry, with an associated increasing complexity of frequently changing technologies and requirements. Training systems need to increase their ability to respond to quick changes in the ORE labour market and to bridge the skills gaps in the workforce. Within this purpose, a set of guidelines has been developed not only to promote the stimulation of dedicated training offers and the skilling processes for the new workers expected in the ORE sector but also to guarantee equality in access to training, contributing to a more diverse and inclusive workforce within the industry. The designing process of the guidelines was developed in the framework of the FLORES project (Forward Looking at the Offshore Renewables), cofounded by the European Union, and based on the skill demands analysed in the Pact for Skills-Offshore Renewable Energy (P4S-ORE). Furthermore, the elaboration of the guidelines was prepared through different stages of collaboration and applying a diverse range of methods. During the procedure, the FLORES consortium, formed by fifteen different partners, specialized in ORE, was monitoring the process. In the initial stages, adequate style requirements were developed, such as the length of the deliverable, the main purpose, and the format (electronic and public). During the early steps, a first proposal was presented to the consortium, and a brainstorming technique was used to refine the initial outline of the guidelines. Once finished, different processes of validation have been addressed, presenting the drafts of the document to a committee of ORE experts in a sectoral event looking for assessment and feedback. The results have been positive: a vast majority of the experts considered the guidelines useful for training providers and stakeholders, accessible and significant. Last but not least, the guidelines have also been validated by a group of ORE professionals from the FLORES consortium.