Innovative hydrogen training in Northern Netherlands

One of the reasons for the development program is that, after 60 years, Groningen is no longer one of Europe's most important natural gas hubs. Recognizing the threat of a social and economic gap following the phasing out of the natural gas industry, a strong movement has emerged in the region to reinvent itself, leveraging the accumulated knowledge and infrastructure from the gas system. The broadly supported plan is to play a leading role in the energy transition. Specifically the value chain of new, green gases that will play a central role in the future energy system and sustainable feedstock in new circular production processes. The core variant of these, clean hydrogen, is central to this.

Sufficiently trained work force

In recent years, much has been developed in the region's hydrogen sector, so much so that the EU officially declared it Europe's first Hydrogen Valley (hydrogen hub). This is not only due to the sheer scale of the new green gas initiatives, but also because they span the entire value chain: production, transport, storage, and applications in industry, mobility, and the built environment. An investment plan is now in place for more than 2030 projects through 50, with a combined financial volume of approximately €10 billion. Several initiatives have also emerged within the knowledge sector to address this theme in education and research.
The entire hydrogen economy is still in its infancy. Real breakthroughs toward large-scale investments and further rollout via SMEs and startups are expected in the coming years, but this means the groundwork must be done now. A crucial component of this is ensuring, in collaboration with businesses, sufficient skilled personnel for the new technology and applications. This process can now begin thanks to the SNN grant.

Praise for Northern educational collaborations

Only recently was the trumpet blown for the 'University of the North' (knowledge and innovation network of five Northern knowledge institutions) and previously initiated collaboration between Noord-NederlandThese educational institutions of secondary vocational education (MBO), higher professional education (HBO), and university education (WO). "Minister Dijkgraaf of Education and Science hopes that this example will 'spread out across the Netherlands.' Because by bringing together bright minds and skilled hands, new knowledge is more quickly implemented in society," according to the Nederlands Dagblad on October 2nd. The continuous learning pathway already established in the north on the topic of hydrogen is even being extended to adult education (further training and retraining for newcomers and post-initial students). With the 'H2 Train & Learn Hub' program, the region is positioning itself as the place where the entire educational chain on this topic excels and is ahead of other European regions.

Educational innovations

An innovative aspect of the program being developed is the so-called "challenged-based learning," in which students from all levels and across diverse disciplines collaborate on concrete business assignments – under expert guidance from the educational sector. Because students are involved in these kinds of processes during their studies, they experience the practical aspects of the energy transition. Innovation is also evident among the lecturers and researchers involved: strengthening the practitioner positions (vocational secondary education), the professorship (higher professional education), and the development of new practitioner-lecturer-professor partnerships, within which research is conducted jointly.

This will raise the level of knowledge and innovation capacity in both education and application at companies in the region and also develop an exemplary position in this area within the Hydrogen Valley. Noord-Nederland.