Yenesis – youth employment network for energy sustainability in islands

YENESIS project’s main objective is to tackle youth unemployment on islands by promoting green competences and jobs in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy resources, sustainable tourism, sustainable mobility, business innovation, adaptation to climate change, circular economy, efficient water management, sustainable food systems, and soft skills. Besides the environmental contribution, according to the International Labour Organisation, green employment must be fair, with equal access to opportunities and paid according to the duties performed, contributing to social inclusion.

The project partners received €2.9 Million in funding, of which approximately €370.000 was allocated to AREAM, the Regional Energy Agency of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, to develop the foreseen activities. These include the development of learning materials in the areas addressed by the project, the organisation of two one-week workshops, the development of an online course based on the learning materials, one month paid internships, showcasing trips, a guide for the school community on skills and professions with high employability potential in the future and a guide for employers on the advantages of sustainability for companies’ competitiveness.

Dissemination and capitalisation actions targeted local stakeholders including regional authorities, political decision-makers, the school community, public and private companies and citizens. These initiatives involved online workshops, in-person sessions, and bilateral meetings.

The project outputs were presented in schools for students and teachers, municipalities, employment institutes, Regional Government Departments, employers, and Engineer Associations, among others. This not only showed the work carried out in the YENESIS project but also, raised awareness for the benefits of replicating the project’s activities, meaning, leveraging the educational materials and e-courses within schools and businesses to elevate the skill sets of employees, students, teachers, and the broader youth community.

In this scope, AREAM gave training to approximately 32 participants, 12 of whom took part in a month-long internship in Porto Santo Island and 13 went to Norway for a one week showcasing trip. The online course is available in all partners’ regions’ languages and is open source, allowing everybody to update their knowledge in the areas covered by the project. The materials developed were presented in the dissemination and capitalisation actions, reaching around 400 beneficiaries, not counting the people who gained access to the materials through posts on social media and interviews in the regional media.

This best practice is extracted from our publication ‘Sustainable Regions in Action‘. Discover more best practices here!