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Initiative in Icó, Ceará, Trains Rural Residents to Work with Solar Energy and Wins National Award from the MEC and German Cooperation, Becoming an Example of Qualification for the Green Economy.
A professional training project focused on solar energy has placed the municipality of Icó, Ceará, among the leading examples of sustainable innovation in Brazil. The initiative “Gente de Casa: Professional Training for the Green Economy in Icó,” developed since late 2024, won 1st place nationally in the Professional Education for the Green Economy Award, promoted by the Ministry of Education (MEC) in partnership with the German Cooperation for Sustainable Development (GIZ), as reported this Friday, 10.
The recognition was announced during the 5th National Week of Professional and Technological Education, held in Brasília. The event gathered 400 projects from across the country, created by students, teachers, and technicians from educational institutions focused on professional and technological education (EPT).
Solar Energy and Social Transformation: The Impact of the Project in Icó
The “Gente de Casa” program aimed to include the rural population in the opportunities of the so-called Green Economy, a development model that combines income generation with environmental sustainability. In Icó, about 50 people were trained — among them four women and two people with disabilities — in residential electrician and photovoltaic system installation courses.
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The results were tangible: half of the graduating students have already been hired to work professionally, demonstrating the power of solar energy as a driver of inclusion and employability.
The initiative was led by Senai Ceará, in partnership with QAir Brasil, a multinational renewable energy company with a presence in over 20 countries, and with the support of the Municipal Government of Icó. In addition to practical and theoretical classes, public buildings designated for the course received structural improvements, and students had direct access to real projects from the company, which opened its construction sites for practical experiences.
Professional Education and Clean Energy: The Cearense Example That Inspires the Country
According to Maurício Barreira, manager of Senai Cariri, the project was designed to generate employment, income, and inclusion within the community itself.
“These are people who live mostly in rural areas, who worked in agriculture, on their family farms, merchants who wanted to change careers, and some young people who were graduating from high school. We had this diversity among the students,” he stated.
The strategy of combining technical training and sustainability has attracted national attention, especially because it shows that the development of solar energy in the Northeast can be accompanied by education, training, and positive social impact.
The Secretary of Professional and Technological Education of the MEC, Marcelo Bregagnoli, emphasized that the award seeks to connect environmental issues with professional qualification, generating lasting benefits for society.
The municipality of Icó, located in the Central-South region of Ceará, was selected for its privileged geographic position and high solar radiation levels, among the highest in the country. This condition makes the region ideal for large-scale photovoltaic installations, which drove the choice of the location for the Bom Jardim Complex, an undertaking by QAir Brasil that will have a capacity of 189 megawatts (MW) and is expected to begin commercial operation in 2025.
According to Nathanee Batista, social project coordinator at QAir Brasil, the recognition received goes beyond the technical aspect.
“It was a collective effort, from Senai, the students, and the field team. The result is that we manage to take these students who completed the course into the job market, which is our main objective: to foster education and, through it, transform lives,” she highlighted.
The coordinator also emphasized the importance of actively listening to communities neighboring solar energy projects. According to her, the demands for training came from the residents themselves, especially young people seeking new professional opportunities.
“We need this quality listening to understand what the other’s needs are. We listened to the communities, and from that, we implemented these courses,” she added.
The Advancement of Solar Energy and the Role of Ceará in the Green Economy
Solar energy has been one of the frontrunners in the energy transition in Brazil, and Ceará is establishing itself as a strategic territory for the sector. In addition to the project in Icó, QAir Brasil already operates a solar park in Trairi and maintains other facilities in Rio Grande do Norte, in the municipalities of Afonso Bezerra and Macau.
These investments reinforce the role of the Northeast as a hub for renewable energies, especially in solar and wind generation. The combination of ideal climatic conditions, public policies, and qualified labor places the region at the center of the Brazilian Green Economy map.
The case of Icó, now nationally awarded, shows that education, technology, and sustainability can walk hand in hand, creating new economic opportunities and consolidating Ceará as a reference in solar energy and professional qualification.
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