GreenCape and the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) successfully hosted their second annual Atlantis Career Expo on Friday 17 November.
This educational event is designed to drive awareness and interest among Atlantis learners in career opportunities in the renewable energy sector.
The expo, held in conjunction with the Windaba Wind Energy Conference, took place at the South Africa Renewable Energy Career Incubator (SAREBI) offices in the Atlantis Industrial area.
In all, 150 high school learners from various Atlantis schools, including Atlantis School of Skills, Atlantis Secondary, Saxonsea, Robinvale and Proteus, had the opportunity to network with professionals working in the renewable energy sector.
They perused the various interactive stations where the benefits of a career the sector were highlighted.
“Among the notable and inspirational exhibits at the event was Durban University of Technology’s Energy Drive Bus,” Nicholas Fordyce of GreenCape pointed out.
“The custom-designed bus serves as an experiential climate change and renewable energy mobile education station. It is equipped with ten solar photovoltaic panels, a 600 watt wind turbine, a biodigester, a solar hot water display unit and a battery bank.”
“With the recent progress in establishing Atlantis as a green technology innovation and manufacturing hub, now is the perfect time to engage our youth in that goal,” said Patricia de Lille, Executive Mayor of Cape Town.
“The young people participating in the Atlantis Career Expo and Renewable Energy Challenge are the future leaders who will drive the green economy forward. I commend the partners in this project for realising this and for stepping up to empower our young people. I put my faith in our youth and I encourage them to grab this opportunity and make the most of it so that they can take the green economy to even greater heights.”
Atlantis Renewable Energy Challenge Winners
During the event, GreenCape and SAWEA also held an awards ceremony for winners of the Atlantis Renewable Energy Challenge. Winning teams included students of Robinvale High.
The competition, now in its second year, challenged Grade 9 to 11 learners to tackle various hands-on renewable energy-related projects, such as building wind turbines from recycled materials and creating educational posters and videos.
