As a part of our unique offerings, we have started to diversify our portfolio in different ways to help in sharing our energy knowledge. In the past our programmes and trainings were all face-to-face. Since COVID-19 hit at the beginning of last year, we quickly transitioned to online forms of interaction: beginning with weekly webinars, online events, and virtual programmes and trainings. Our content and experts stayed the same, but the way in which we provide and share our knowledge changed. We therefore saw this as an opportunity to further expand our course offerings in the form of online learning but needed to decide the first topic we would choose to do this with. We decided on hydrogen.
The topic of hydrogen has taken a front seat in the energy transition. In its Green Deal, the European Commission has set out strong ambitions in hydrogen. Many countries in Europe and outside have published national hydrogen strategies as a part of their actions towards decarbonisation. What was missing, however, was the availability of general, introductory information on the topic. Therefore, we decided to choose hydrogen as our first online learning topic, to make this information available and accessible to the world.
We partnered up with EIT InnoEnergy, the leading engine for innovation and entrepreneurship in sustainable energy, to co-develop an online learning course in hydrogen. In the second half of last year, we created an online, self-paced course that covers the entire hydrogen value chain from production, transportation and storage, safety and handling, policy and regulatory aspects, the end-use applications in industry, mobility, the built environment, as well as a hydrogen outlook.
Each lesson is accompanied by a video presentation from our expert, Theo Fens, who provides further reading material and resources, and tests the knowledge of the participants in an interactive way. To wrap up the course, two real-world cases on hydrogen applications and innovations have been included.
The course includes live online sessions offering interaction and networking opportunities. In this way participants are able to combine self-paced learning with interaction with faculty members and peers. Three editions of this blended programme are available in our 2021 Portfolio: having successfully completed the first edition, we look forward to the next interactive sessions taking place 13-14 October.
This is the first online learning and blended course that we offer within our portfolio; however, more will follow shortly. We are always striving to share the energy of knowledge with you, in any form possible.
For more information on ‘Hydrogen’s Role in the Energy Transition’ you can download the brochure here our contact Stevie Atterbury for any questions or remarks.