The Institute of Refrigeration is involved in a new European learning programme called REAL Alternatives that will address skills shortages among technicians working in the refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump sector.
The focus will be on carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrocarbon and HFO refrigerants. It will improve knowledge in the service and maintenance of these refrigerants in new systems from the point of view of safety, efficiency, reliability and containment.

Delivered through innovative blended learning - a mix of e-learning, face-to-face training materials, practical exercises, assessments and an e-library of learning resources - the programme will bring together industry knowledge and expertise from across Europe.

REAL Alternatives will also build on the established REAL Skills Europe and REAL Zero containment approaches.

A two year project, it will be led by a consortium of six partners from across Europe and is funded by the EU Lifelong Learning Programme. The consortium includes training and professional institutes, along with employer representative bodies. All partners in the REAL Alternatives consortium will contribute to each aspect of the programme with key areas of responsibility as follows:

· Clarifying alternative refrigerant training needs and opportunities in Europe - London South Bank University, UK

· Developing a specification for the e-learning and reviewing resources currently available in Europe to support learning, London South Bank University, UK

· Developing e-learning process, integrating practical learning materials, resources and translation, Limburg Catholic University College (KHLim), Belgium

· Piloting and testing of materials with live audiences in five languages (English, Italian, German, Polish and Flemish) Associazione Tecnici del Freddo (ATF), Italy

· Monitoring the impact of the project and evaluating success, IKKE training centre, Duisburg, Germany

· Publicity, promotion, and stakeholder engagement, Association of European Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Contractors (AREA) & Institute of Refrigeration, UK

· Project Management, Institute of Refrigeration

· Identifying opportunities for long term sustainability of outputs, PROZON recycling programme, Poland.

A programme website will be launched this month at www.realalternatives.eu. Here users can find out more about the programme, volunteer shared resources or register for updates. Anyone interested in contributing to the programme can email Miriam Rodway at miriam@ior.org.uk