Esbjerg, Stavanger, Aberdeen, and Groningen Join Forces to Strengthen Educational and Business Cooperation in the North Sea Region

Four key energy cities around the North Sea – Esbjerg, Stavanger, Aberdeen, and Groningen – signed a joint memorandum of understanding 9 March 2026, during the High Wind 2026 conference in Stavanger, Norway. The memorandum of understanding aims to strengthen, expand, and formalize collaboration within both academic and vocational education. It marks a significant step in the cities’ work to support the energy transition through competence development and increased knowledge exchange.

Future Energy Competencies
The four WECP member cities share several characteristics: strong roots in the energy sector, a major green transition from oil and gas to renewable energy, and substantial industrial energy clusters, universities and vocational institutions developing the competencies of the future. With the memorandum of understanding, the partners aim to create a stronger and more structured collaboration across the region.

“This memorandum of understanding sends a clear signal that the North Sea region is taking responsibility for developing future energy competencies. The energy transition demands new solutions and new skills, and we can only achieve this together. By strengthening the collaboration between our cities and educational institutions, we create better opportunities for students, businesses, and the labor market – and we stand stronger as an international energy region,” says Jesper Frost Rasmussen, Mayor of Esbjerg Municipality.

An Esbjerg Initiative
During its WECP presidency, Esbjerg Municipality has taken the initiative to strengthen cooperation in the educational field across energy cities. The new memorandum of understanding builds on an already established collaboration between Esbjerg Municipality, Education Esbjerg, Stavanger Municipality, and the University of Stavanger.

With Aberdeen and Groningen joining the collaboration, the parties will strengthen educational and competencies efforts across the entire North Sea region. The purpose is to create more educational opportunities, strengthen talent mobility, and provide companies and institutions with better access to joint projects and new knowledge. In Esbjerg Municipality, Education Esbjerg will continue to implement the collaboration regarding higher education and serve as a link between educational institutions, local businesses, and the municipality.

“I am very pleased that the city’s two universities, SDU and AAU, have agreed to join the collaboration. This can significantly boost our research capacity and open the door to much stronger joint engagement in EU projects across the North Sea region. In the long term, it will also create new opportunities for exchanging talented students between Esbjerg, Stavanger, Aberdeen, and Groningen – and benefit businesses in Southwest Jutland that need international competencies for the green transition,” says Lone Saaby, CEO of Education Esbjerg.

The collaboration will focus on hybrid educational formats, digital learning platforms, the exchange of tools, pupils, students, and teaching staff, as well as strengthening connections between students and companies.

For vocational education, Business Esbjerg will help build links between vocational institutions, local companies, and Esbjerg Municipality. CEO Karsten Rieder welcomes the opportunities created by the new memorandum of understanding:

“Three out of four jobs in the green transition are skilled-trade jobs. Therefore, an international collaboration in vocational education opens completely new perspectives for the future. This partnership can become a key element in securing the workforce needed for the green transition,” says Karsten Rieder, CEO of Business Esbjerg.

Rybners Strengthens International Educational Cooperation
An example of the type of initiative that the memorandum of understanding under WECP aims to promote is the new climate vocational school of the youth education institution and course center Rybners, which through the memorandum of understanding will gain access to international knowledge and best practice.

As part of the effort, Rybners – together with Business Esbjerg – will visit Groningen to gather inspiration on recruiting young people into technical and green vocational programs and to explore new educational activities. The initiative will help address the growing competency challenges in the green transition.

“The green transition depends entirely on whether we can educate enough people – quickly enough. Through the WECP collaboration, Rybners and Esbjerg gain access to the strongest knowledge, the best models, and the most important international partners. This makes us better equipped to deliver the competencies that both Denmark and Europe urgently need,” says Olaf Rye, CEO of Rybners.

Facts
The signatories of the memorandum of understanding:

Esbjerg

  • Jesper Frost Rasmussen, Mayor, Esbjerg Municipality
  • Lone Saaby, CEO, Education Esbjerg
  • Karsten Rieder, CEO, Business Esbjerg
  • Olaf Rye, CEO, Rybners

Stavanger

  • Tormod Wilson Losnedal, Mayor, City of Stavanger
  • Helge Bøvik Larsen, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger

Aberdeen

  • David Cameron, Lord Provost, Aberdeen
    On behalf of the NESA Partner Institutions:
  • Jo-Anne Murray, Vice-Principal (Education), University of Aberdeen
  • Sarah Hillyear, Head of Partnerships, Robert Gordon University
  • Robin McGregor, Vice Principal Curriculum & Quality, North East Scotland College

Groningen

  • On behalf of the Mayor and Vice-Mayors of the City of Groningen:
    Philip Broeksma, Vice-Mayor, City of Groningen
  • Jouke de Vries, Prof. Dr. and President, University of Groningen
  • Marcel Koenis, Director of Strategy and Development, on behalf of Dr. Ir. Jan-jaap Aué, Director Engineering, Life Sciences & ICT, Hanze University of Applied Sciences
  • Richard den Ouden, Manager Energy & Maritime Noorderpoort, on behalf of the vocational education authorities in Groningen: DCTerra, Noorderpoort and Alfa-college (DNA)

The memorandum of understanding is valid for a period of two years.