Ocean Winds, an international company dedicated to offshore wind energy and created as a 50-50 joint venture by EDP Renewables and ENGIE and active in the field of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, carries out educational programmes for children and young people in primary and secondary schools in Poland. The flagship programme “Career with Wind” introduces students to the energy potential of offshore wind, promotes their knowledge of offshore wind farms and shows career opportunities in this sector. In addition, the company is implementing the “Wind Experts” project, which targets primary school children in Poland, Spain and the UK.
The leading schools in the pilot edition of “Career with the Wind” are : The Energy Schools in Gdańsk (Zespół Szkół Energetycznych w Gdańsku), Kazimierz Pułaski’s Schools in Częstochowa (Zespół Szkół im. Kazimierza Pułaskiego w Częstochowie) and the Władysław Orkan’s School No 2 in Szczecin (Zespół Szkół Nr 2 im Władysława Orkana w Szczecinie). With all the schools and the co-organizer of the action, the Industrial Development Agency, Ocean Winds signed memoranda of understanding for a long-term collaboration.
Since the beginning of the 2021/2022 school year to April 2022, 17 educational workshops were held at these schools, attended by a total of 120 pupils from the second and third grades alonside 13 teachers. The meetings took the form of attractive presentations, which included active online collaboration with programme managers.
The students in the following school profiles: Energy Technology, Renewable Energy Technology and Electricians were introduced to the stages of the development of offshore wind farms, the supply chain of components and the strategic aspects of offshore wind energy development in Poland, using examples of ocean winds from around the world.
“At Ocean Winds, we believe in the power of knowledge transfer and the long-term prospects for the development of natural energy sources in Poland, especially offshore wind energy, from an early age. That is why we engage in dialogue with young people and students from technical secondary schools and try to show them the background of our work and professional development in the offshore sector”, explains Kacper Kostrzewa, head of the BC-Wind project implemented by Ocean Winds in Poland. “The Career with the Wind program is achieving its educational goals and we plan to continue it in the coming semesters”, added Kacper Kostrzewa of Ocean Winds.
According to Ms. Beata Wroniecka, Head of Vocational Training at the Mechanical-Electrical Schools in Częstochowa, the participation of students in the “Career with the Wind” programme enables:
“Expanding the horizon through new knowledge on the use of the energy potential of wind energy. ”Until now there has been little discussion in our school about that kind of subject. Now it is changing dynamically thanks to Ocean Winds ”, said Beata Wronicka, Head of Vocational Education and Coordinator of the programme on behalf of the school at the Association of Mechanical-Electrical Schools in Częstochowa.
In addition to the secondary education, Ocean Winds organises an international “Wind Experts” campaign for 8-12 year old in three countries where Ocean Winds is active: Poland, Spain and Great Britain. The aim is to raise awareness of climate change and to promote effective solutions to reduce its impacts. As part of the “Wind Experts” campaign, the children took part in two specially prepared learning workshops in which an environmental educator presented topics of offshore wind energy. Together with the teachers, students are informed about energy and different energy sources, in particular renewable energies. All materials were prepared in Polish. Found out more about the initiative:
