The Renewable Energy Boot Camp (REBOOT) is a training program for young, proactive, and technically-oriented Renewable Energy Ambassadors who will facilitate mindset, process, and technology shifts towards a just, democratic, and fully-renewable energy transition in the Philippines.

REBOOT aims to train young RE Ambassadors to:

• Develop knowledge and skills on renewable energy;
• Widen perspectives on social reality;
• Improve capacity to develop projects that respond to energy issues;
• Provide technical applications of RE skills and knowledge to social needs;
• Create a network of active young RE ambassadors who are working with communities in establishing RE programs.

This program is fully supported and managed by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Philippine Office. The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) is a private, not-for-profit, public interest cultural-educational foundation committed to the ideals and basic values of social democracy. 
 

REBOOT 6 - What will happen?

REBOOT Batch 6 will center on the development of green skills, with a focus on examining policy and legal landscapes in areas where renewable energy facilities are being planned or are already operational.

Because of this, REBOOT has partnered with the Center for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (CARRD), Kasama Ka! Laguna (KK! Laguna), and Green Empowered Alliance (GEA). Through these partnerships, the program is grounded in both community realities and sectoral expertise, ensuring that discussions on green skills remain responsive to local contexts and emerging industry needs.
Through this collaboration, participants will explore key barriers to a just energy transition, including:
 

• Legal and policy gaps and implementation bottlenecks - Tackle complexities in local projects and policy development, and spaces for people’s engagements;
• The skills gap - While the transition promises "green jobs," there is a mismatch between the current workforce's skills and the specialized technical, legal, and entrepreneurial expertise required by the RE sector.
• Inequality - Marginalized sectors, particularly women and rural communities, often bear the brunt of energy poverty and are excluded from the economic benefits of new energy installations.

Program Design

REBOOT is composed of three key parts: (1) a series of six workshop clusters where trainees will gain concepts and tools to understand the energy sector; (2) immersions in partner communities to help trainees comprehend social realities; and (3) energy transition projects and policy narratives with development organizations.

The workshop clusters will consist of six four-day programs, spaced in a span of twelve months. The clusters will feature discussions on social, political, economic, and environmental issues that affect the energy sector. Different renewable energy technologies will also be discussed. Participants will be taught tools for socioeconomic analysis to help them understand realities on the ground. Communication, leadership, community organizing, and project management skills will also be imparted.

Two of the six workshop clusters will be allotted for immersions in partner communities. In these immersions, the participants will be given time to live in their respective communities, experience local realities through the eyes of the residents themselves, and dream up renewable energy projects that can help address the issues that they observed.

The participants will then work on energy transition projects and policy narratives with partner development organizations who have done prior work in the immersion communities, with the aim of developing an actual project that will be implemented in the community. Participants will be expected to conceptualize and then develop a workable renewable energy project for their respective communities with the guidance and ample input from their partner organizations.

Participants shall present proposals for community- based renewable energy projects and policy narratives to their respective partner organizations. Their partner organization must adopt the project proposal for a participant to finish the program.

Attendance will be required for all clusters.
 

Who are qualified?

The application is open nationwide to young professionals from corporate, government, and academic sectors or young Filipinos with lived experience in climate and energy advocacy and campaigns. Nominees from the FES partner organization are prioritized for the first 8 slots, while the remaining slots are open to the public.

Below are the basic qualifications for application:

• Filipino citizen currently residing in the Philippines and will be residing in the Philippines for at least the next three years.
• Within 18-30 years old on the date of the deadline for application.
• Has training or experience (working or volunteering) in climate and energy work through policy development, community development, social entrepreneurship, advocacy communications, movement organizing, engineering, design, project management, and other related fields.
• Has openness to Community Engagement.
• Has demonstrated interest not just in project development but also in policy development in either just energy transition, green skills, decent work, or social justice work.

Participants who may not have sustained experience in community development work or climate and energy advocacy but have an interest in doing so are welcome to apply. REBOOT encourages the diversity of sectors and the representation of various regions and cultures in its selection of participants.

Training Clusters

Discussions will revolve around social, political, economic, and environmental issues that affect the energy sector.

Participants will also cover topics like renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy policy, innovation, and project management. They will also practice leadership, communication, social research, and community development skills.

Experiments

Participants will be taught basic technical skills in renewable energy and energy efficiency, including solar photovoltaics, waste analysis and characterization, and energy auditing.

They will also be taught how to calculate the energy generation capacity of solar PV systems, biomass facilities, and other RE applications, as well as estimate the financial viability of RE projects.

Pitstops

The training can sometimes get a bit heavy because of all the technical discussions. Thus, a key part of the REBOOT experience are the pitstops -  reflective sessions that help the participants synthesize the technological, social, political, and economic concepts into their own sense of the big picture.

Creative methods are often used in these sessions.

Community Immersions

Leading an energy transition that is sustainable and empowers underserved communities entails developing and implementing initiatives with them.

REBOOT embeds community immersion in its design to provide a platform for participants to learn directly from the communities and vice versa. Participants are expected to live inside the communities for a period of time.

Energy Transition Project Implementation

The second requirement for graduation is the implementation of a local Energy Transition Project. The project should address identified community needs, contribute to decarbonization, and integrate the community in both the design and implementation processes.

This requirement will be considered completed upon project turnover to the community.

Personal Space

The last requirement for graduation is the Personal Space, a “personal thesis” of the participant’s exploration of the concept of the just energy transition and her/his role in that transition.

The participant will build on this personal space part by part as s/he goes through the program.