Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, ScottishPower Renewables and Vattenfall have joined an initiative to enhance education opportunities in the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk in England.
The operators have joined forces with the University of East Anglia, Nautilus Associates and local charity The Bridge Trust to form a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiative.
The industry-funded programme brings together employers with education and academia to transform the STEM provision in Norfolk and Suffolk, directly impacting the future workforce in the England’s eastern region.
The STEM Coordination Hub, which launches in May, will initially be piloted in parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, counties that are already emerging as centres for engineering and technology supporting the energy sector.
The hub aims to make the most of what is already there, identify and plug the gaps and find new ways to enhance STEM education, said its founders.
Over half of the UK’s offshore wind industry is located off the coast of Norfolk and Suffolk, with a development pipeline that could see more than 15GW developed over the next decade, or half of the industry’s vision to deliver 30GW by 2030 up from 7.5GW today.
ScottishPower Renewables’ Victoria Sinclair said: “The STEM hub represents a unique opportunity for us to deepen our understanding of what students, teachers and parents would like to know about when it comes to STEM.
“We believe in a collaborative approach between education and industry when it comes to encouraging young people particularly girls into STEM subjects and believe the STEM Hub will be a huge step forward in achieving this.”
Professor Lawrence Coates from UEA’s Faculty of Science said: “The UEA relishes the chance to work directly with these industry partners in helping young learners to understand the full range of STEM opportunities available to them.”
A new web portal will offer work experience opportunities and STEM events to students and teachers, and signpost STEM resources for educators to use in teaching and career personal development.
The project was originally developed by Nautilus Associates whilst investigating opportunities to encourage business growth in North Norfolk.
Nautilus Associates managing director Johnathan Reynolds said: “The STEM Coordination Hub is a new and disruptive model that we hope will significantly enhance STEM activity in the area.”
The hub will focus on the benefits to young learners, while providing support to teachers, non-teaching support staff, parents and guardians, according to the founders.
“You never know, we could be educating parents about new career opportunities in the clean energy sectors as well as their children,” Reynolds said.
The hub will be hosted by The Bridge Trust, a Great Yarmouth-based charity that provides support to young people and community development.