Month: April 2024

Within the framework of the Next GEn project, the kick-off meeting took place on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, in the Oberwart settlement in Burgenland. After the online discussions, the project partners (Vas County Government Office, Sekem Energy GmbH, Wood Science Foundation) visited the first face-to-face meeting at the invitation of the leading project partner, BFI Burgenland Vocational Training Institute.

The Next GEn project, lasting 30 months, is intended to alleviate the serious shortage of skilled labor in the renewable energy market with the help of a multi-layer career guidance model. The project is co-financed by the European Union and the Hungarian State within the Austria-Hungary Interreg cooperation program.

At the kick-off meeting, the partners got to know each other personally, discussed the main goals of the Next GEn project, jointly developed the foundations of effective cooperation, and the operational plan for the first half-year period of the project was also discussed and accepted.

On April 1, 2024, the Next GEn project (ATHU-0100024) was launched within the framework of the Interreg VI-A Austria-Hungary program, in which the Wood Science Foundation (FATA) also participates effectively as a project partner.

Wind energy, photovoltaic energy (solar energy) and biomass energy are increasingly used as renewable energy sources in the Austrian-Hungarian border region. In accordance with the expansion goals set for renewable energy, this trend will strengthen even further in the future.

However, the sector already has to face an extremely serious problem in the Austrian- Hungarian border region, namely, the lack of skilled workforce for the expansion, installation, and maintenance of renewable energy sources.

The goal of the Next GEn project is to mitigate labour shortages in the medium and long
term with the help of a multilayered innovative career orientation model, targeting the 10-
15-year-old age group who are about to choose a career.

During the 30 months of the project, diverse, effective program elements help to shape attitudes and career orientation. The development of concepts and knowledge materials based on secondary and primary research results (surveys, interviews) and workshops are carried out, among other things. Concepts related to renewable energy sources are tested at several levels; in addition, mentor training, teacher workshops and cross-border competitions for students help to achieve the goals of the Next GEn project.

Thanks to the many years of research experience of Wood Science Foundation, we are mainly responsible for the implementation of the secondary and primary research project elements on the Hungarian side, and in addition, we will be an active player in the other program elements in cooperation with the project partners with our career orientation- specific, environmental and energy awareness-raising event organization practice.

Project partners
Leading project partner:
BFI Burgenland Vocational Training Institute

Project partners:
Vas County Government Office
Sekem Energy GmbH
Wood Science Foundation

Strategic partners
Bildungsdirektion für Burgenland
Burgenland Energie AG
Berufsförderungsinstitut Wien
Sárvári Tankerületi Központ
Szombathelyi Tankerületi Központ
bit schulungscenter GmbH
Bildungsdirektion für Steiermark
FAGOSZ – Fagazdasági Országos Szakmai Szövetség
SolarTech-Investment Kft.