Skills for the Transition
Date and Time: Saturday, 16th November, 11:00 – 11:45 (Baku time)
Venue: Greek Pavilion, Blue Zone
Organized by: AE4RIA and SDSN Global Climate Hub
Session Overview
This session will examine the urgent need for green and digital skills as part of the EU’s vision for the Twin Transition—a path toward both digital and climate-neutral economies by 2050. The AE4RIA HUAWEI White Paper: Twin Skills for the Twin Transition underscores these needs, detailing how Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems and universities can bridge the skills gap by integrating green and digital competencies into educational programs. The session will discuss the European Skills and Competences (ESCO) classification model, which gauges the “greenness” and digital adaptation of occupations, revealing the rise in demand for roles that combine both skill sets. Aligning these skill-building efforts with EU sustainability policies and labor market demands is critical to achieving climate neutrality goals.
Key Objectives
- Mainstream Green and Digital Skills: Promote these skills in policy and industry to support sustainability goals.
- Identify Workforce Gaps: Assess the workforce’s current ability to support green and digital transitions, addressing shortages in skillsets.
- Measure Skill Progress: Track workforce preparedness for the green and digital economy.
- Advance the Twin Transition: Foster economic and industrial alignment through targeted upskilling and reskilling.
- Explore Frameworks for Skill Integration:
- Regional Focus: Tailor frameworks to local industry needs, especially in ICT and energy.
- Educational Institutions: Enable TVET systems and universities to incorporate green and digital skills into curricula.
- Corporate Integration: Support ESG and SDG goals across value chains, aligning with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
- Labor Market Insights: Use ESCO-based tools to assess green and digital readiness across occupations, focusing on high-demand sectors.
Expected Outcomes
- Familiarization with Skill Assessment Tools: Introduce tools and frameworks to measure green and digital skill integration, using ESCO to assess the “Greenness” and “Digitalization” of various roles.
- Multi-Level Framework for Skill Development: Discuss a comprehensive framework that evaluates skill gaps at regional, institutional, and industry levels, aligning with the EU Twin Transition goals.
- Application of Classification Models: Employ the report’s classification model to track green and digital skill adoption in critical sectors, ensuring workforce readiness for a sustainable, digitally transformed economy by 2050.
Agenda
Moderator: Yannis Ioannidis, Professor National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; President, Association for Computing Machinery; Co-founder SDSN Global Climate Hub
Speakers:
- Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, Athens University of Economics and Business & Technical University of Denmark; President, World Council of Environmental and Resource Economists Associations; Chair, SDSN Global Climate Hub; Director AE4RIA
- Giorgia Epicoco, Head of EU Sustainability & Industrial Policy, Huawei
- Prof. Semida Silveira, Professor of Practice, Systems Engineering, Cornell University
- Dr. Binbin Wang, Founder of Climate Future Global Innovation Lab (C Force); Associate Dean and Research Professor, Institute of Carbon Neutrality, Peking University