EAfA Communities serve as collaborative, member-led hubs aimed at bringing together existing and new EAfA members to share best practices and form new partnerships with the common goal of fostering apprenticeships. 

The Community on the Green and Digital Transition, led by Michael Fitzgerald from ESB Networks, currently counts over 70 members who meet regularly online. The Community’s ultimate goal is to support apprentices in gaining the skills required to master the twin transition, with special focus on three key sub-themes: Lack of awareness, Digital divide, and Required skills for the transition. 

What’s next for the Community? 

Moving forward, the Community on the Green and Digital Transition will continue sharing tools and materials through its repository of good practice alongside pursuing long-term objectives such as improving apprenticeships in the field of the twin transition. 

Community members will meet every two weeks to work in three separate sub-groups focusing on key topics, each with their own priorities and concrete outputs: 

• The sub-group on Lack of awareness seeks to contribute to the integration of green and digital skills within training programmes, as well as strengthening synergies and cooperation between relevant stakeholders. Its members will conduct several networking activities and events, alongside sharing good practices and educational material with the wider Community. 

• The sub-group on Digital divide aims to make tools and resources for the twin transition more accessible and mobilise national education systems through EU-level action. The activities carried out by this sub-group will focus on empowering individuals with digital literacy and skills and enabling apprentices who specialise in ICT to support others in improving their own digital skills. 

• The sub-group on Required skills for the green and digital transition will launch new communication tools to increase the involvement of companies in dual learning programmes. This sub-group seeks to improve training schemes to better support the green and digital transition and advocate at the national level for the integration and recognition of distance learning through educational platforms.