The Green Energy Transition - a Case for Lifelong Learning

The EU has launched a series of ambitious plans to accelerate the energy transition, notable the 'Fit for 55' package that was presented by the Commission in July 2021. The target of the package is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55\% by the year 2030. Climate change mitigation through phasing out fossil fuels and becoming energy independent are central targets for the EU. The universities are supposed to be forerunners when it comes to research and education for providing the skills and competencies for enabling environmentally and economically sustainable development of society. However, when it comes to the energy transition, is the technology driven by the companies, with the universities just trying to keep up with the technical development? Are the skills acquired from traditional engineering education enough to support the green transition? In this paper, a qualitative study on how the current curricula support the green transition from the viewpoint of university-level engineering schools in Finland is presented. Based on this study, an analysis on potential changes beneficial for empowering the students to be able to rapidly contribute to the energy transition is performed. In addition, it is discussed how the current offerings could be used for lifelong learning to contribute to the green transition.