REFRESH - Green and sustainable global economic improvement at Azerbaijani Universities: renewable energy and climate change mitigation

The project “Green and sustainable global economic improvement at Azerbaijani Universities: renewable energy and climate change mitigation” (REFRESH) has been created by analyzing international and national country reports of Azerbaijan, where transition into green economy is inevitable. Thus, various international organizations have reported the huge potential of wind and solar energy in Azerbaijan, which are under utilization. In addition, national policy documents of Azerbaijani government also urges for transition into green economy where green skillsets are critical. The pleminary needs assessment with the main industry players revealed the lack of technical experts in renewable energies field and the pressing demand to stimulate local human capital in the market. These analysis took the project team to universities, where the education on renewable energies is behind the industry needs. Therefore, the REFRESH project aims to increase capacity at the universities by enrolling the teaching staff at Training of Trainers (ToT) programme to improve the teaching methodologies, course syllabi and launching pilot courses at each partner HEI. Simultaneously, Virtual Learning Simulation (VLS) labs also will be part of new curriculum. These changes to curriculum will improve the quality of teaching at local HEIs. This in turn will stimulate green skillets in Azerbaijan, which ultimately contributes to successful green transition of economy. The consortium is set up from 5 regional universities, 1 university (the applicant) located in the capital city, a State Agency for Renewable Energy Sources and 4 EU universities. All EU universities are specialized in the field of renewable energies education. The national and EU universities have active participation at various phases of the project during the implementation certain activities. Furthermore, 4 associate partners will be actively participating either during the student internships enrollment or in the disseminati