Co-Creating a New Energy Transitions Pedagogy to Prepare Future Energy Leaders

On October 10, Irving Institute Academic Director Amanda Graham PhD led a workshop titled "The Energy and Climate Workforce Is Booming. Are We Preparing Our Students Right?" at the second 2024 summit of the University Energy Institute Leaders Collaborative (UEILC) at Ohio State University. 

Formed in 2019 by more than 150 institutes at U.S. colleges and universities, the UEILC engages a network of energy experts from around the nation and the world working together to inspire meaningful research, engage scholarship, inform regional and national policy, impact decision-making, and re-imagine energy education to be ready to create the future of energy systems.  

In her workshop, Dr. Graham described the rapid rate of growth in clean energy jobs - which grew twice as fast as jobs in the rest of the economy in 2023 and led attendees in breakout sessions to identify critical skills for leading and navigating energy transitions as well as best practices currently being used across the curriculum to teach those skills. Key skills identified included the capacity to work fluidly across disciplinary and sectoral boundaries, the ability to effectively and authentically engage diverse stakeholders, and an orientation toward creativity and entrepreneurship.  

Multiple participants observed that energy transitions require a particularly high degree of adaptability and marriage of both generalist and specialist competencies, adding to the challenge of curriculum design and assessment of student learning outcomes. A white paper capturing participant observations and reflecting on the UEILC's potential contributions to energy transitions pedagogy is under development.