Retaining skills in small islands of Europe

“Entrepreneurship is in our DNA” stressed local businessman Gerard Sullivan of Bere Island Boatyards in the south of Ireland, “but we have lost a lot of our young people to the city and US tech. We need to turn this round: training needs to be spread to all in the community; it has to be worth something to all members of the community! Unlike tourism where the benefits only go to a few.”

To this end, Cork Education and Training Board offers a compelling example of skill retention with their innovative island training programme. The training takes place on the islands and includes a new modular «micro-credentials» accreditation scheme, allowing islanders to build on their learning at their own pace. The programme allows the capture of the older generations’ knowledge through apprenticeships alongside the introduction of new knowledge. Another key to the adaptation of local communities to the renewable industry is the re-skilling and upskilling of existing maritime skills through the West Cork Strategic Plan for a Maritime Training Centre, which promotes cluster collaboration rather than competition.

The Island of Eigg also offers a strong model for providing jobs to young islanders. It delivers a comprehensive programme of health and safety modules and on-the-job training to meet the requirement of a micro-grid running on hydro, solar and wind power. Eigg it is now seeing a new generation of islanders being trained, as its electric system set up with EU funds is now entering its sixteenth year of operation. Six part-time Eigg Electric employees are in charge of monitoring and maintenance.

13 small European islands have been selected for the newly launched “30 islands for 2030” challenge offered by the Clean Energy for EU Islands (CE4EUI). For ESIN, training and upskilling has to be at the heart of the initiative. Most small islands are run by voluntary boards and require facilitators and coordinators to spread organisational and relational knowledge alongside technical skills.

ESIN is keen to inspire a new generation of islanders to get involved with renewable energy and carbon neutral strategies from primary school onwards. Island educational establishments have to be key stakeholders for young islanders to see that the new energy strategies can and will provide them with the means to stay and thrive on their islands.

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