EduEnergy Conference: Building Bridges for Sustainable Energy Learning

Summary

The Edu-Energy Conference: Building Bridges for Sustainable Energy Learning brought together experts and stakeholders from across the Western Balkans to discuss the current challenges in the renewable energy sector and explore ways forward. The event, held online on 15 March 2024, focused particularly on the skills needed to support the growth of renewable energy.

Key speakers provided insights into the current state of the energy sector and its future developments, as well as exploring the social response to these challenges.

Organised by the Education Reform Initiative of South Eastern Europe (ERI SEE) in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, the conference took place within the framework of the Renewable Energy Services in Education and Training (RESET) project.

The RESET project is implemented by ERI SEE as part of a larger GIZ-led regional initiative, Green Agenda: Decarbonising the Electricity Sector in the Western Balkans, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Around 200 participants from across the region attended the event. Opening remarks were delivered by Ljubinko Savić, Secretary of the Association for Energy and Mining of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia; Ivana Marković Bošković, Senior Expert on Green Agenda from the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC); Nicolas Heger, Project Manager, and Ergi Bregasi, Advisor from GIZ; and Tina Šarić, Director of ERI SEE.

Presentations

Energy production and consumption in the Western Balkans: Over the hills and far away (Aleksandar Macura)

Mr Aleksandar Macura, Co-founder and Program Director, RES Foundation invited the audience to understand that the way in which we produce, transform and consume energy is based on the decisions made many decades ago, and does not facilitate value creation that our societies need today.

The presentation can be accessed here.

Path to a sustainable energy future of the Western Balkans (Vedad Suljić, CETEOR)

Mr Vedad Suljić, Managing Director, Center for Economic, Technological and Environmental Development Sarajevo – CETEOR stated that there is an urgent need to increase capacities of key actors working in sectors related to decarbonization (business representatives, civil servants, educators etc.) to be able to utilize decarbonization related available funds, e.g. own funds, EU funds, private finance. These capacities include education, skills&tools and procedure related to activities relevant to decarbonization effort. To this regard, VET plays a crucial tool and through a systemized and streamlined WB-wide approach the WB economies could build competitive advantage and prevent brain drain in the future.