Hydrogen Europe Research recognises the education of students and the upskilling & reskilling of the workforce as essential for the development of the future hydrogen economy. Considering the fast-paced deployment of the hydrogen ecosystem, a trained workforce will be needed to meet the ambitious EU targets and deliver on the strategies of member states and regions.

Together, Hydrogen Europe Research and Hydrogen Europe set up a Working Group to discuss skills needs in the hydrogen sector and how to address them. Different stakeholders are gathered in the working group: universities, research centers, industry players, regions and national associations.

The Working Group is steered by two co-chairs, one representing industry and one research. The co-chair is elected for a two-year mandate. On Hydrogen Europe Research’s side, the current co-chair elected in March 2022 is Professor Steinberger-Wilckens from the University of Birmingham.

The rapid development of the European Hydrogen Value Chain over the coming years is expected to generate approximately 1 million highly skilled jobs by 2030, and up to 5.4 million by 2050.

Green Skills for Hydrogen aims at addressing the growing skills needs of the hydrogen industry.

Green Skills for Hydrogen is an ERASMUS+ Project which will help meet EU targets by fast-tracking the upskilling and reskilling of students and members of the workforce all over Europe. Workers in declining sectors and transition regions will also benefit from upskilling and reskilling opportunities, through VET programmes that will enable them to access new employment opportunities within the hydrogen sector.

Hydrogen Europe Research is part of the Consortium managing this initiative, which is led by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and has a total of 34 partners from 15 European countries. These partners comprise six Work Packages (WP) that will jointly coordinate the various activities and tasks to be carried out throughout the life of the project.