ESBJERG: Esbjerg has taken the initiative for a collaboration between four energy cities in the North Sea region, which will strengthen education- and business cooperation in the energy field. Esbjerg, Stavanger, Aberdeen and Groningen signed the agreement on Monday during the High Wind 2026 conference in Stavanger. The municipality announced this in a press release.
The purpose of the agreement is to strengthen the development of competencies for the energy transition through increased knowledge sharing and cooperation between educational institutions and companies in the region.
- This agreement is a clear signal that we in the North Sea Region take responsibility for future competencies in the energy field. The energy transition requires new solutions and new skills, and we can only achieve this together. By strengthening the cooperation between our cities and educational institutions, we create better opportunities for both students, companies and the labor market - and we stand stronger as an international energy region, says Jesper Frost Rasmussen, mayor of Esbjerg Municipality.
It is Esbjerg Municipality that, under its chairmanship of the World Energy Cities Partnership (WECP), has taken the initiative for the strengthened cooperation in the field of education across energy cities. The agreement builds on an existing collaboration between Esbjerg Municipality, Education Esbjerg, Stavanger Municipality and the University of Stavanger.
Will strengthen educational opportunities and mobility
With Aberdeen and Groningen as new participants, the collaboration will focus, among other things, on hybrid forms of education, digital learning platforms and the exchange of students, teachers and tools. The goal is to create more educational opportunities and strengthen mobility among students in the North Sea region.
In Esbjerg, Education Esbjerg will be a link between educational institutions, companies and the municipality in the work of translating the collaboration into concrete activities. At the same time, Business Esbjerg will contribute to the collaboration in the area of vocational education by strengthening the contact between vocational schools, companies and the municipality.
- Three out of four jobs in the green transition are skilled jobs. Therefore, international collaboration in the area of vocational education opens up completely new perspectives for the future. The collaboration can be an important element in securing the necessary workforce for the green transition, says Director Karsten Rieder, Business Esbjerg.
Initiatives such as Rybners’ climate vocational school are also part of the collaboration and, among other things, will draw inspiration from other energy cities to recruit more young people for technical and green education. The goal is to contribute to meeting the growing need for workforce in the green transition in the North Sea region.
