North East Scotland College and its partners in the National Energy Skills Accelerator (NESA) have been crowned winners at the Herald Education Awards.
The prize was presented at the annual ceremony in Glasgow on Thursday, with NESA chosen by judges of the of the Partnership Award category.
NESA was established in 2021 to support the changing needs of energy sector employers and the workforce in responding to energy transition opportunities. The key aim is to accelerate the upskilling, reskilling and training of the existing workforce and new entrants to the industry.
The non-profit organisation is a collaboration between NESCol, Robert Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen. It is supported by Energy Transition Zone Ltd and Skills Development Scotland.
NESA’s focus on building skills for a just energy transition was at the heart of the Herald Education Awards nomination, with a range of key initiatives delivered. These have included training for more than 700 individuals on fully funded places, across 37 courses, in the past academic year. Almost half of those courses were newly developed and reflect the rapidly evolving needs of the energy sector.
NESA chair Dr Susan Grant, strategic lead for energy transitions at NESCol, said: “The power and effectiveness of collaboration is at the heart of NESA’s work and this award is very welcome recognition by the energy and innovation of all of the partners.
"We look forward to continuing to build on the strong foundations that have been built over the past four years and to many more success stories in the future.”
NESCol was also a finalist in the Widening Access category at the Herald Education Awards, in recognition of innovation in curriculum design in the creative industries.