Joint Staff Training in Italy: REPower in Practice

As part of the REPower project, partners met in Italy for the first Joint Staff Training, moving from planning into actual development of renewable energy training.

REPower is a two-year Erasmus+ cooperation project focused on strengthening vocational education through practical training, shared curricula, and the use of digital tools such as VR and AR. The aim is simple: make renewable energy training more relevant, more practical, and easier to use across different countries.

From Structure to Content

The training in Italy was where the work became concrete. Using shared templates, partners developed learning activities, defined outputs, and aligned on how modules should be built.

This was less about discussion and more about production. The focus was on making sure that what is being developed can actually be used—by teachers, in classrooms, and in training environments.
Grounding the Work in RealityA consistent thread throughout the week was keeping the connection to real systems. Training modules are being shaped around how renewable energy is actually used and managed—not how it is described in textbooks.

For GeoCamp Iceland, this is where the contribution is clear. The work builds on experience with geothermal systems and field-based training, bringing practical examples into the design process. The aim is to make sure the materials reflect real conditions, not ideal ones.

Flexibility and Adaptability is the Key

One challenge that came up repeatedly is that there is no single learning environment across Europe. Equipment differs, systems differ, and so do learners. The solution being developed is not a fixed course, but a modular structure. Core learning outcomes stay the same, but how they are delivered can change. This is where ideas like adaptability and transferability move from buzzwords to actual design decisions.

Different content formats were discussed, including animation, real-world video, AI-supported content, and existing materials. AR and VR were part of the discussion, especially for situations where access is limited or where safety is an issue. But there was also a clear agreement that technology should support learning, not define it.

Every activity needs to be able to work without advanced tools. If VR is not available, the learning should still hold.

What This Means for GeoCamp Iceland

Within REPower, GeoCamp Iceland leads the development of training materials for trainers and students and contributes directly to how learning is structured and tested in practice.

The approach is straightforward. To pring learning out of purely theoretical settings and anchor it in real environments. This will also carry forward into the hands-on training activities planned in Iceland, where modules developed during the project will be tested in the field.