Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E International Initiative)

In Austria, only 19.3 % of employees in the energy sector are female, significantly below the international average of 25 %. This share decreases further to 11 % with increasing responsibility. In companies in the renewable energy sector, however, the picture is already more positive. There, the overall share of women is already 29.6 % and that in management positions 18 % (ÖGUT (2016): Equal opportunities for women and men in the energy sector). In public research projects in the energy sector, the share of female technicians is only around 14.6 % (BMK (2021): Energy Research Survey 2020).

The Clean Energy, Education and Empowerment (C3E) initiative was launched in 2010 by the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) to improve collaboration and promote women's participation in transforming the energy system. In June 2017, the C3E activities were restructured with the help of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and launched as a Technology Collaboration Programme (TCP). The C3E TCP implements measures to promote women in the professional field of clean energy. Austria, represented by the BMK, joined the C3E TCP in July 2018.

Currently, Austria participates in Annexes 1-5 of the C3E TCP and is mainly responsible for Annex 4:

• Annex 1: Data collection on women in the clean energy sector.
• Annex 2: Women's career network
• Annex 3: Annual appreciation and awards
• Annex 4: Communication and information activities
• Annex 5: Equal by 30

Besides the development of content for the new C3E website and dissemination via social media channels, the central aspect of the initiative is direct contact with important target groups. In Austria, various activities were implemented to analyse data, build networks and communicate about the initiative.

The achieved results are:

• Implementation of an innovative method of data collection for the analysis of communication networks of women in the energy sector with a focus on the social media platform Twitter (Annex 1)
• Recruitment of four Austrian mentors and ambassadors for the "C3E Ambassador Program" and implementation of joint activities to motivate women to pursue a career in the energy sector (Annex 2)
• Implementation of a "Women in Energy" event series, which took place three times during the project period and allowed to get in touch with other women in the clean energy sector (Annexes 2 - 3)
• Application support of Austrian female participants for the annual C3E award program in the framework of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) (Annex 3)
• Preparation of imaginative editorial contributions (e.g. testimonials, blog posts) for the new C3E International website (Annex 4)
• Raised awareness, especially in Austria, for the goals of the "Equal by 30" campaign (Annex 5) as well as for the TCP C3E

Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, European Union, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA

Exco alternate

Mag.^a Sabine Mitter
BMK
Tel.: +43 (1) 71162 652 915
E-Mail: Sabine.mitter@bmk.gv.at

National Support

Kerstin Schilcher, MA
AUSTRIAN ENERGY AGENCY
Tel.: +43 (1) 586 15 24 649-133
Mobil: +43 (664) 6180291
E-Mail: Kerstin.Schilcher@energyagency.at