RWE has teamed up with the teenagers taking part in the National Citizen Service to come up with innovative concepts to encourage more women to join the growing offshore wind energy sector.
Both organisations have helped to create a real-world enterprise challenge that asked more than 1600 participants to create campaigns to improve the gender balance in the sector which at present has only 18% women.
RWE said the competition provided the perfect opportunity to seek valuable insights and advice from many of the young people who may join their workforce in years to come.
Resulting concepts ranged from an offshore wind Barbie and a Love Island pastiche to a touring bus and use of historical role models.
The communications team at RWE will review the young people’s ideas and look to incorporate them into potential future awareness campaigns.
During the challenge, the campaign presentations were peer-reviewed and then judged by RWE experts with three finalist teams invited to a grand finale event at Ramside Hall, County Durham this week.
The winning entry came from a team of teenagers from South Tyneside who picked up the main accolade for their campaign that aimed to tackle gender stereotypes using social media trends on TikTok and education outreach.
Judges praised the team for their ‘finger down’ TikTok campaign that demonstrated barriers young women might encounter when it comes to entering sectors such as the offshore wind.
NCS Trust North East community engagement manager Kirsty Beeston said: “It’s been a real privilege to have worked with the team at RWE’s Sofia Offshore Wind Farm to make this enterprise challenge a reality this summer.
“Young people on NCS have been able to find out about the breadth of offshore wind job opportunities available to them in the North East while they develop new skills using a real-word challenge. We received so many innovative and creative submissions and I’m looking forward to seeing how Sofia put the ideas into practice.”
NCS Trust chief executive officer Mark Gifford said: “Big thanks must go to RWE and Sofia for getting behind NCS in the North East and helping to build this innovative partnership.
“One of the aims of NCS is to build employability and work-readiness, and the enterprise challenge is a prime example of how we are helping young people develop skills, build their confidence, break down barriers and fulfil their potential.
“It was very inspiring to hear the young people present their ideas during the final.”
RWE head of stakeholders and local markets UK and Ireland Zoë Keeton said: “This programme has really demonstrated the power of reverse mentoring, we have learned a lot from the campaign concepts the young people put forward for the NCS enterprise challenge and would commend the effort, enthusiasm and energy of all involved.
“I particularly wanted to congratulate the winning teams for their creativity, motivation and impressive ideas around how we can better communicate with females about the great opportunities open to them in our industry.
“It’s a sector that not only enables young people to have fulfilling careers in more than 100 different types of roles, but also means they are playing a key role in protecting the future of the planet.”