Challenges in the governance of regional skills systems for the energy transitions - evidence from Tasmania, Australia

This paper explores the challenges in governing regional skills systems in energy transitions, and the governance structures that help to address them. The availability of appropriate skills has become a potential bottleneck for advancing climate action. Governing skills systems is known to be difficult and creates many challenges for governments. Yet little is known about the skills-related challenges facing sub-national policymakers and local actors in the accelerating phase-in of renewables. In Tasmania (Australia), centrally driven climate targets and a rapid build-out of renewable energies and grid infrastructure are forcing policymakers to align a small regional skills system with the growing demand for skilled workers. Drawing on the skills ecosystem framework and 27 semi-structured interviews, this study examines how actors in Tasmania navigate these challenges through policies, programmes and governance arrangements. The results reveal several interconnected challenges, some of which are specific to small regional energy zones and largely overlooked in research. In response to these challenges, actors have implemented advisory committees and forums, flexible training formats, and place-based bodies and informal networks. I argue that most of the challenges identified, and the ways actors have responded to them, trace back to how the skills system copes, or fails to cope, with uncertainty (particularly over temporal alignment). Based on the analysis, I derive policy recommendations and an outlook for further research.