Fostering a systemic reform on segments of Vocational Education and Training, by promoting innovative approaches for the upskilling of managerial and consulting jobs in the strategic areas of the green transition.
Context
The urgent need for a fair and prosperous society, with a resource-efficient economy, calls for a readaptation of our lifestyles, based on learning solutions able to respond to different learning needs. Among others, micro-credentials have recently emerged as a successful approach for professional upskilling through targeted, flexible, inclusive learning paths. Inspired by the good practice of NE(W)AVE project, GREENLAB partnership (11 partners from 6 EU countries, representing the fields of VET and employment), will apply the micro-credential approach to the design of specialised VET learning resources in sustainability management and environmental consulting. Partners will initially identify those common transversal and sector-specific skills needed to succeed in line with the green transition, actively involving the target groups (i.e. business managers, project managers, business consultants, VET providers, policymakers) to ensure that the resources developed respond to their real needs.
Objectives
- To identify a set of core soft and hard skills in the fields of sustainability management and environmental consulting, needed to support the green transition within businesses;
- To strengthen business managers’ and business consultants’ green skills and competences through an online training based on the take-up, validation and recognition of short learning courses through the EU’s micro-credentials;
- To foster transnational and multi-stakeholder cooperation between VET providers/trainers, businesses and policy-makers able to reform VET curricula addressed to sustainability managers and environmental consultants, thus contributing to support the green transition;
- To enhance the flexibility, accessibility and portability of VET curricula by fostering the use and validation of EU’s micro-credential approach;
- To support the transfer of innovation across countries, policy sectors and target groups, thus ensuring the sustainable exploitation of project results and transferability into different contexts and sectors at national and EU level.
Activities
- Cross-country desk research on emerging trends in sustainability management and environmental consulting;
- Identification of soft and hard skills needs for sustainability managers and environmental consultants via surveys, semi-structured interviews and focus groups;
- Establishment of the Sustainability Committee;
- Development of GREENLAB cross-sectoral course for VET learners on the GREENLAB e-learning platform;
- Organization of the international congress “new VET opportunities for future-oriented managers & consultants”.
Resources
- GREENLAB Skilful Report – Interactive Report for businesses’ green transition;
- GREENLAB Open Online Course;
- GREENLAB Open Online Course Syllabus;
- GREENLAB Roadmap for VET providers/trainers;
- International paper of policy recommendations for professionals’ greener upskilling.
Impact
- Enhanced interest in the opportunities offered by the professional fields of sustainability management and environmental consulting;
- Increased knowledge on the functioning and benefits of the micro-credential approach;
- Upskilled VET providers/trainers and professionals in the fields of business management and consulting;
- Stronger employability in green jobs and businesses’ better capacity to overcome current skill mismatches;
- Enhanced innovation of VET learning paths;
- Fostered flexibility, inclusivity and transferability of VET offer;
Partners
- CESIE (Italy, coordinator);
- EUROtraining (Greece);
- Joist Innovation Park (Greece);
- INCOMA (Spain);
- Blue Room Innovation (Spain);
- CSI (Cyprus);
- GrantXpert (Cyprus);
- Helsinki Business College (Finland)
- Crnet (Finland)
- CANDIDE International (Belgium)
- Syntra (Belgium)
