The labour market is currently eager for people to come and work in the energy transition and sustainability sectors. What does this require from employers and their staff, as well as from the education sector? For example: how do you get all employees within an organisation on board when the work changes? How can you work together to become more sustainable in a smarter way?

In roundtable discussions and interviews over the past few months, companies from Alphen aan den Rijn shared their bottlenecks in the energy transition with regard to the labour market, innovation and learning. A working group with representatives from Alphen-based companies will now address the collective bottlenecks faced by the business community. In the coming years, education providers from the region will set up specific learning environments. As a training provider, Energiek Alphen aan den Rijn also wants to play a role in the Energy Transition House.

“The Energy Transition House focuses on collaboration between participating companies and educational institutions, residents, and social (sports) organisations. They must develop and innovate together. New legislation and regulations and new technologies require different ways of thinking and different skills. The Energy Transition House will be the place where they come together for retraining, further training, experiments and practising with new techniques. They are working on practical innovations to strengthen the labour market and educational infrastructure around energy transition and sustainability,” says Erik de Ruijter, chairman of Energiek Alphen aan den Rijn.

“For Energiek Alphen, we see a role primarily focused on behavioural change. We provide information, training and energy-saving projects to residents, associations and organisations in the municipality. We already train Energy Coaches and are expanding this to other roles, such as energy advisors and handymen. In our projects, we have observed that there is a great need for knowledge about making homes more sustainable and thus saving energy,” says De Ruijter. “What if you want to purchase a heat pump or start cooking with induction? Or how do you ventilate properly (after your home has been insulated) to prevent moisture and mould? The boards of associations and organisations that manage their own buildings are also looking for ways to use sustainable energy and keep energy bills affordable.”

“The Energy Transition House will be the ideal location to share our knowledge and experience with everyone and to raise awareness of sustainable behaviour. In local energy communities, residents, businesses and organisations will also work together to balance their energy consumption and generation. In Benthuizen, we are running a pilot project together with the Village Council. Our wish is that the Energy Transition House will also have a nice shop where consumers can go for electricity contracts and everything related to saving and sustainable generation.”

The municipality of Alphen aan den Rijn is the initiator of the establishment of the Energy Transition House. On 21 January, a so-called Human Capital partial agreement was signed with the current partners. These are the VOA business association, Ponsioen Installatietechniek, Van der Werff Groep, Goudkuil Bouwmanagement, ST Warmte, Lieftink Geveltechniek, Rijnvicus, mboRijnland, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, TU Delft, EDBA (Economic Development Board Alphen aan den Rijn), EBZ (Economic Board Zuid-Holland), SCOPE school group and Energiek Alphen aan den Rijn.