Promotion of Capacity and Energy Education Development in the Caribbean Region (PROCEED CARIBBEAN)

Research summary

The project will aim to enhance the capacity of partner HEIs to be more responsive to labour market needs and increase the capability of partner HEIs to contribute to the respective national plans and regional co-operation in energy efficiency, access and sustainability. The project will employ a “training of trainers” approach, targeting academic staff, PhD Students and administrative staff in management and finance in order to facilitate increased capacities in curricula development particularly for the BSc and MSc programmes offered by the partner HEIs.

Trainings will focus on i) energy efficiency (modelling, renewable energy technical efficiency, system level efficiency) and ii) energy access (pricing in the Caribbean context and governance issues).

Description

Challenge
Energy access and efficiency has many similarities in Barbados, Cuba and Jamaica, although the countries vary significantly in other dimensions. As small island developing states(SIDS), all target countries have limited access to international energy markets, their resources are scarce and energy efficiency is low. They are all dependent on imported fossil energy sources, mainly petroleum (Jamaica 90%, Cuba 90%, Barbados 90%) and thus are highly sensitive to changes in energy supply and prices at the international level. This has raised the interest in each partner country to look for more secure and stable sources for energy supply, mainly from renewable energy sources. However, a number of challenges in the region exist; these are limited access to new knowledge and technologies in the field of energy studies and the lack of regional cooperation and a common framework in the Caribbean area. Hence, the purpose of this project is to address these challenges.

Focus
The action concentrates on the target area of energy access and efficiency in higher education capacity building in the partner HEIs located in Barbados, Cuba and Jamaica. The action contributes to the first overall objective of the EDULIK II call in capacity building and regional integration through institutional networking by i) organizing joint workshop seminars with the partner HEIs, ii) fostering information exchange amongst the partners, iii) providing trainings of finance and coordination management, as well as curricula development and iv) increasing the mobility of teaching staff and PhD Students. This contributes to the specific objective of institutional capacity building, including the management planning and administrative capacity development. The action contributes to the second overall objective of the call in supporting higher education of quality, taking into consideration the needs of the labour markets and the partner countries’ socio-economic development priorities.

Rationale
In the proposed action the international and regional level networking and knowledge transfer are improved in joint workshops and during short and medium term study visits. The action helps to increase the communication between different academic actors, and creates new avenues for good governance and sustainable development. The project will improve the situation of the target groups by enhancing energy education in the partner institutions by promoting accessibility and the use of the latest research-based knowledge on energy access and efficiency and by stimulating their own research in the field. New theoretical insights, methods, models and practices in the field of energy access and efficiency will be introduced in the participating HEIs. This training will help the target group’s capacities with new concepts about the use and consumption of energy, helping to improve the energy balance and the efficiency of energy consumption, and the integration of renewable energies to the countries’ actual schemes of energy generation.


Method
The action will be carried out using a “training of trainers” approach, which ensures multiplier effects. Through the action, the trained staff at the partner universities will have the skills and capacities to give lectures on the identified key questions in energy efficiency and access. The increased knowledge will be transmitted to the students of energy-related courses at the partner HEIs. The energy models are designed together with the local experts from the partner HEIs to ensure relevance to their teaching priorities, national circumstances and socio-economic development priorities. In addition, workshops and seminars will be carried out with the specific objective of improving academic quality and relevance in the Caribbean context.

Results
The expected results of this project are increased academic and management capacity of the partner HEIs. This is through i) increased academic capacity of the Caribbean partner HEIs in the field of energy education ii) increased academic capacity in the education of socio-economic and political aspects affecting energy access iii) increased academic capacity of energy efficiency education in renewable energy technology and energy modeling and planning iv) improved academic capacity to teach modern renewable energy technology and its impacts on energy efficiency. Another overall expected result of this project is increased networking, cooperation and pedagogical training through i) increased mobility of postgraduate students and teaching staff ii) improved study programmes in the partner HEIs in energy education iii) Development of energy related BSc and MSc curricula in Partner HEIs and iv) increased inter-institutional networking among Caribbean partner HEIs and with European HEIs.

Research info

Research title
Promotion of Capacity and Energy Education Development in the Caribbean Region (PROCEED CARIBBEAN)

Research timeline
1.10.2013 - 1.4.2017

Keywords
capacity building climate change efficiency energy access energy planning modelling renewable energy

Region
Caribbean

Countries
Barbados, Cuba, Finland, Jamaica

Institution
University of Turku
Finland Futures Research Centre
Tampere, Finland

Head of research
Jyrki Luukkanen, Project director

Research team
Jyrki Luukkanen, Mika Korkeakoski, Timo Nurmi

Partners
University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Department of Economics, Jamaica and University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Department of Economics, Barbados University of Oriente Faculty of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Santiago,Cuba University of Technology, School of Engineering, Jamaica

Contact information
Mika Korkeakoski
+358443333275
mika.korkeakoski@utu.fi
Open link

Record last updated
2.6.2014