TFI Network+ Webinar Catch-Up: Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis

Antonius Schröder presents ‘Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis – A Cross-sectoral Blueprint for a Sustainable Process Industry’

Skills will play a vital part in the Foundation Industries ability to transform and meet sustainability targets. Recent research by UKRI highlights the skills gap currently experienced in the Foundation Industries, focusing on the need to futureproof industries by attracting and retaining new talent, embedding effective leadership and positive messaging.

This session will explore the impact of skills for industrial symbiosis, using the ‘SPIRE-SAIS blueprint for a sustainable process industry’ as an example of skills alliance. SPIRE-SAIS is developing the blueprint “European Energy Intensive Industry Skills Agenda and Strategy” for an ongoing and short-termed implementation of new skills demands concerning cross-sectoral industrial symbiosis and energy efficiency in eight sectors: steel, chemicals, cement, non-ferrous metals, water, minerals, engineering, and ceramics.

Built on the pre-existing SPIRE projects, a cross-sectoral industrial symbiosis approach covering all eight SPIRE energy intensive industry sectors and integrating European, national, regional industrial symbiosis perspectives will improve “intercultural” exchange between the different industry sectors.

Speaker profile

Antonius Schröder is a senior researcher and member of management board of the Social Research centre (sfs) at the Faculty for Social Sciences of TU Dortmund University, responsible for International and European research. He is working in the research area “Innovation and Education in the Digital Society” and has worked in and managed several European projects in the field of social innovation and vocational education and training. Recently he is engaged in combining technological innovation with social innovation processes integrating the human factor perspective. Currently he is coordinating two large New Skills Alliances under the EU program Erasmus+ within the New Skills Agenda (sectoral blueprints) adjusting the skills of process industries within stakeholder alliances in a proactive way: The European Steel Skills Agenda (ESSA www.estep.eu/essa) and the Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis – A Cross-sectoral Blueprint for a Sustainable Process Industry (SPIRE-SAIS www.spire2030.eu/sais). He is vice-chairman of the Working Group “People” of the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP), chair of the senate of the German Professional Association of Sociologists (BDS), member of the Steering Committee of the European Workplace Innovation Network (EUWIN), and Managing Director of the European School of Social Innovation (ESSI).