There were 14 students who traveled to that country in September 2022, within the framework of a collaboration agreement between the establishment and the University of York that seeks to position Paillaco as a world center for renewable and sustainable energies.
Professor Belloy explained that this support originates “in 2015, through a collaboration between FACEA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under an economic democracy program. It was sought that young students from the region could be trained in jobs related to renewable energies, understanding that there was an important and growing adoption of these in Los Ríos.
Among other objectives, the project sought to prevent the installation and maintenance work of renewable energies from being carried out entirely by personnel from outside the region, with the consequent leakage of local resources to Santiago and other large cities. Together with MIT and a group of educators from different institutions, we are working on the adoption of a curriculum on renewable energy and the purchase of equipment for the RAP high school in Paillaco, in order to promote the realization of this training and exchange of experiences”.
This project also included the participation of students from FACEA’s Master’s in Human Scale Development and Ecological Economics, along with professionals from the UACh Entrepreneurship Center and the Helmholz Institute for the Environment in Leipzig, Germany.
The students who traveled to Canada did so thanks to the contribution of more than 30 million pesos from the hands of a dozen local businessmen, who committed themselves to the formation of human capital in the area.
The director of the establishment, Ana María Muñoz, thanked the support and commitment of those who supported the initiative, ensuring that this is a great opportunity for personal development for the students, their families, the RAP High School in Paillaco and the local community.
Professor Patricio Belloy, meanwhile, highlighted the impetus given by the educational community in the development of this project and urged them to continue their role at the regional and national level in promoting training in renewable energy and sustainability.
