The GREENT project combines the efforts of 5 organisations, active in the field of entrepreneurship education in 5 EU countries in an attempt to offer a long-term solution to a key pan-European challenge (Europe 2020 strategy), related to development of green mind-set of future generations of EU entrepreneurs. The project addresses the need of transformation of EU economy into a green one and the development of new skills required for both green jobs and entrepreneurship. The project aims at bridging the “gap” in the educational system between the need of new green skills and the lack of adequate educational content for development of such skills, through innovative training course for teachers in delivering green entrepreneurship education, utilizing blended learning methodology. The key innovation is that teams of pilot teachers receive green entrepreneurship training and the opportunity to develop the complete set of GREENT lessons to be used in the classroom. The project will involve directly at least 25 teachers and 500 high-school students in piloting the green entrepreneurship course in the 5 partner countries. The GREENT project will have a significant impact for teachers, students, project partners and other stakeholders. Teachers will learn how to utilize new content (green entrepreneurship), methods (blended learning) and tools (online education platforms) to deliver high quality education. Furthermore, they will improve their digital competences and their understanding for the demands of greening the economy. Secondary school students will develop green entrepreneurial mindsets, which will improve their entrepreneurship, digital and language competences; overall educational attainments; openness to international cooperation with other teachers and students; enhanced intercultural awareness. Project partners will benefit from the know-how exchanged and synthesized during the project lifecycle and integrated into their daily activities related to continuous training and interaction with teachers and students in the field of green entrepreneurship. The impact on all stakeholders (parents, employers, social partners, policy makers, etc.) is related to increased green entrepreneurship awareness. The GREENT products will contribute to raising the teachers’ performance and will increase students’ understanding of the new realities of the world of work and business. Additional impacts are related to increased synergies and links between education and business; reinforced interaction between practice, research and policy in each system; intensified use of open educational resources (OER) for continuous training of teaching community; increased number of good practices in content and language integrated learning. Thus the project will enhance the educational systems of the countries involved and serve as a basis for further development.
The GREENT project (full name: “Blended Learning Design Methodology for Education in Green Entrepreneurship at Secondary Schools”) is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the EU. It attempts to offer a long-term solution to a key pan-European challenge, related to the development of the green mindset of future generations of entrepreneurs and the need for transformation of the EU economy into a green and circular one. There are several issues defining the world today and they are likely to define the life of future generations too. Among these are climate change, the depletion of natural resources, air pollution, loss of biodiversity, deforestation, degradation of soils, and others. Exploring the reasons for them and the possible solutions from an entrepreneurial standpoint is at the heart of the GREENT project. The mission of GREENT is to create educational tools that support teachers in fostering a “sustainability-conscious entrepreneurial mindset” in their high school students. That mindset includes all the features of the entrepreneurial mindset (tolerance to risk and uncertainty, ability to accept failure and learn from it, self-directed learning, bias toward action, intentional curiosity and creative confidence), but viewed through the prism of a sustainability mindset characterized by holistic thinking, an environmental and social ethic that respects the value of all living things, responsible consumption, cooperation and teamwork, full-cost accounting, democracy, and adherence to the precautionary principle. The main aim of the project is to bridge the “gap” in the European educational systems between the need for new green skills for green jobs and entrepreneurship and the lack of adequate educational content for the development of such skills through an innovative training course for teachers in delivering green entrepreneurship education, utilizing blended learning methodology. Five organizations from the JA Europe network partnered in the successful implementation of the project: JA Bulgaria, SEN/JA Greece, JA Romania, Ungt Entreprenorskap Sogn og Fjordane (Norway), and JA Latvia. They have a strong track record in entrepreneurship education and are experienced in research, creating and delivering educational content, forming and maintaining effective networks of schools, teachers and students, as well as in collaborating strategically with public authorities in increasing the outreach of learning-by-doing digitalized programs. A strong feature of the consortium is the close relationship with the corporate sector and the extensive experience in making effective connections between schools and businesses in the form of mentorship, guest lectures, etc. The main activities undertaken in the project were: 1) Desk research (http://greentproject.eu/2017/05/05/io1-desk-research-report/) 2) Development of GREENT syllabus (http://greentproject.eu/2017/05/05/io2-green-entrepreneurship-syllabus/) 3) Development of blended learning methodology (http://greentproject.eu/2017/05/05/io3-blended-learning-methodology-in-green-entrepreneurship/) 4) Creation of GREENT sample lessons 5) Creation of full set of lessons and teacher manual in green entrepreneurship (http://greentproject.eu/2017/05/05/io5-full-set-of-green-entrepreneurship-lessons/) 6) Translation of developed materials into the partners’ languages 7) Testing the sample and finalized lessons and delivering testing reports (http://greentproject.eu/2017/05/05/io6-testing-reports/) 8) Pilot delivery in the classroom and consolidated report to summarize the results (http://greentproject.eu/2017/09/25/io7-reports-from-piloting/) 9) Multiplier events – innovation camps in green entrepreneurship (http://greentproject.eu/category/events/). 10) Final international conference (http://greentproject.eu/2017/09/30/the-greent-final-international-conference-inspired-all-participants-for-a-more-sustainable-life/) The most significant impacts from the project are: Teachers learned how to utilize new content (green entrepreneurship), methods (blended learning) and tools (online education platforms) to deliver high quality education. Furthermore, they improved their digital competences and their understanding for the demands of greening the economy. High school students developed green entrepreneurial mindsets, which improved their entrepreneurship, digital and language competences. A further testament to the significance of the GREENT project is the fact that it received the prestigious “Collaboration Award” during the Global Leadership Conference of JA Worldwide which was held in Atlanta, USA, in July 2017. Longer-term benefits are related to proving the appropriateness of delivering the topic of green entrepreneurship in European high schools and laying the foundation for a broader future uptake of innovative approaches, techniques and content related to circular economy and sustainable business.