The South African-German initiative Skills for Green Jobs aims to improve the distinct, institutional and societal frameworks in order to provide qualified experts and adequate technologies for establishing a green economy.
On the German side, the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) is carrying out the implementation on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is working closely with the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
The programme strategy focuses on joint initiatives between ministries, TVET institutions, technology centres, universities and enterprises to thus improve coordination. It focuses on implementing visible and replicable experiential learning projects (ELP) where public and private sector actors successfully carry out concerted measures for practice-centred qualification and applied technology transfer to developing a green economy. It further focuses on implementing enabler projects (EP), where prerequisites for successful implementation of ELP are developed, e.g. lecturer training, curricula development, awareness and knowledge generation about a green economy.
The ELP are:
- Cooperation with the short-term insurance industry focusing on appropriate quality of SWH installations by up-skilling of the insurer’s supply chain;
- Up-skilling employed and unemployed youth in Solar Water Heating Installations;
- Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and Multi-Fuel (MF) technology cooperation with Danone and Unilever aiming to offer alternative energy solutions, reduction in energy usage, costs and CO2.
- Resource and energy efficiency network support for various industry clusters in the Eastern Cape based on the Ecoprofit approach. Targeted sectors in the Eastern Cape are the industrial automotive and non-automotive clusters.
- The EP are:
- RET Subject Implementation aims at increasing NC(V) students’ employability for a green job market and increasing knowledge and competencies of male and female students in the field of RET;
- Greening College Initiative has been successfully introduced to TVET colleges. The current programme support is focused on M&E and reporting procedures by colleges to DHET;
- Energy Audit Technician - focus is ensuring that the occupational qualification and occupational curriculum follows the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) model and will be fit for purpose within an energy efficiency environment, therefore providing an additional option for a career path into the green economy.
The programme comprises three fields of activity with complementary contents: (I) Framing the general conditions for ELP in green capacity development and technology transfer, (II) Implementing ELP and its enabler projects, and (III) Securing sustainability by mainstreaming lessons learned and knowledge transfer