Forth Valley College has used funding from SP Energy Networks’ £20 million Green Economy Fund to boost STEM training for high school teachers.
An event organised in the Falkirk Campus Main Hall on Friday 29 November attracted several teachers from the Falkirk area to find out about new Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) techniques, experiments and processes related to the green economy - all with the aim of helping them better teach these subjects to their pupils in class.
This was the first in a series of training events for teachers planned by the College, as part of a wider project to run additional STEM learning opportunities. These will be for young people from early years to secondary level across Forth Valley and will be focused on renewables.
The project was awarded £43,727 from the Green Economy Fund and involves a combination of approaches like the development of innovative online learning materials, knowledge exchange events and facilitating opportunities for collaboration between education, business and other key stakeholders.
The Green Economy Fund supports the ambitious green targets of the Scottish Government to boost local economic growth, improve air quality across the country and deliver a better future, quicker.
Jillian Violaris, Green Economy Fund - Project Manager at SP Energy Networks, said: "We’re extremely proud to be funding Forth Valley College through our Green Economy Fund, supporting this innovative project to make a long-term social and environmental impact in their area, and ultimately contributing towards Scotland’s green economy.
“The Green Economy Fund is investing directly in projects that promote low-carbon heating, low-carbon transport or the education of Scotland’s workforce for a greener future. We share the Scottish Government’s vision of making a cleaner, greener Scotland by accelerating our green economy to deliver a better future, quicker for our communities."
Mhairi Hay, Director of Curriculum for Engineering and Science at Forth Valley College, said: “We can’t thank SP Energy Networks enough for their very generous grant to allow us to organise this event. We’ve ran these training sessions for teachers in the past and they’ve proved very successful, with the feedback from school and teachers being very positive. We’re confident this training will inspire and encourage the next generation of STEM professionals in Forth Valley to seriously consider careers in these industries.”
The work of the Green Economy Fund project supports the Scottish Government’s low carbon ambitions, focusing on the communities in which SP Energy Networks operates in – central and southern Scotland – and will run for two years. For further information please visit www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/gef