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Rome, April 22nd, 2020
With an estimated 91% of the world’s student population affected by national closures, Education institutions are no strange to the crisis sparked by COVID-19 and have been among the first to react. Enel Foundation had already a great component of digital learning in the projects it leads such as Open Africa Power, but has stepped up efforts to help learning programs it supports adapt to the new reality.
One of such programs is the Master on “Energy Resources Management” offered by SAFE - an independent organization founded by Raffaele Chiulli, a member of Enel Foundation’s scientific committee. The post graduate course on the evolution of the energy field and its marketplace has been a reference for the sector for more than two decades and is currently running its 21st edition featuring more than 600 class hours over 7 months.
On April 21 and 22, Enel Foundation’s Senior Researcher Carlo Napoli, participated as guest speaker, delivering digital presentations to the twenty-seven students enrolled in the program coming from diverse professional and academic backgrounds such as Engineering, Economics, Political Science and Law. The first presentation concerned the possible pathways towards electrification in Italy and was based on the research Electrify Italy, an analysis carried out with the Energy Center of the Politecnico di Torino and MIT. The focus was on the scenarios and benefits of increased electrification of final uses in the industrial, transport and residential sectors in Italy. The second session was focused on the benefits of long duration energy storage for enabling larger penetration of variable renewable energy looking at wind plants. The presentation made reference to a recent analysis of Enel Green Power U.S. based wind assets, in collaboration with Form Energy.
Raffaele Chiulli commented, "We all at SAFE are very pleased of the solid and value adding collaboration and partnership with Enel Foundation. I am personally also very happy to serve in the Enel Foundation’s Scientific Committee and, in the context of sustainable development and clean energy transition, contribute to train and coach the new generation of energy leaders".
Additional projects
Innovation for Change was another recent project facing the need to enable digital lessons and collaboration tools, as it happened with the Master on “Climate Change: Adaptation and Mitigation Solutions” of the Politecnico di Torino. Launched in February with the scientific partnership of Enel Foundation, it is now continuing to deliver classes in remote learning. The program, under the Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, aims to offer technical basis for a deeper understanding of climate change dynamics, and introducing feasible solutions for adaptation and mitigation.
Other projects aimed at high potential Master, PhD and MBA students which implied physical presence and could not be converted in remote learning had to be postponed. For example, the successful candidates to the Fulbright- Enel Foundation internship , who applied to a summer internship in collaboration with the SAEG (Study Abroad Engagement Grant) Program, won’t be able to travel to Italy. But not all is bad news for them, as the internships have been postponed to May 2021 as starting date.
As the adaptation continues to evolve in the coming months, Enel Foundation remains committed to delivering quality education projects in collaboration with its academic partners.