(A) Background:Since the publication of the study on the future of the world economy "The Limits to Growth" by the Club of Rome over forty years ago the number of publications on the effects of destructive handling of natural resources, especially in the industrialized countries, has not only reached a confusing extent. Their results and conclusions, in a frighteningly dramatic way, point out a threatening decreasing chance of a fair and largely peaceful coexistence for all people living on our planet. Despite increasing awareness of this development for the natural livelihoods of humanity and a variety of concepts and recommendations, there is a lack of effective practices at all decisionmaking levels.The most recent report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) of 2 November 2014 once again makes the negative economic and social consequences of climate change very clear. The authors strongly urge reduction of the CO2 emissions by 70% from 2010 to 2050 and lowering to 0 in order to achieve the climate target of max. + 2 ° C by 2100. However, they are also optimistic about the possibility of an effective change in this direction: "We have that opportunity and the choice is in our hands." (IPCC 2014).Back in 1979, with the report "Opportunities for the Future Learning" to the Club of Rome, an international working group raised the central importance of education for the necessary transformation of society, economy and politics out. (J. W. Botkin/M. Elmandjra/M. Malitza (1998): No Limits to Learning: Bridging the Human Gap. A Report to the Club of Rome. Oxfort.) Sustainability issues are relevant to all organisations of all sizes and in all sectors. Furthermore, in order to effectively contribute in installing environmental and sustainability improvements in their workplaces, students and staff need to acquire the inevitable knowledge, understanding, skills, experience and, last but not least, the awareness of their responsibility for our common future. (Stibbe, Arran (Edit.), (2009): The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy. Skills for a changing world. Foxhole.)(B) Aims of the Project GreenSkills4VETWorking on learning material/concepts for ESD in vocational education: education for sustainable development is only partially anchored in vocational curricula. In most of the curricula skills and competences are commonly orientated according to the traditional environment learning. The con-cept of Education of Sustainable Development (ESD) goes far beyond this. The formulated “shaping compe-tence” (Gestaltungskompetenz) as an integrated approach of ecological, economic and social skills (coherence principle of ESD) requires a substantial expansion of vocational curricula (company and school). It also implies the urgent need to integrate overall (macro, meso and micro level) economic and business knowledge and skills. Climate protection and energy turnaround occupies a central role here. The urgent need to rethink the general social awareness and action in the professional habitus requires new forms of organization of educational content and learning. It also requires a new sense of responsibility.Development of Open Educational Resources (OER) in the context of ESD: The digitalization of the everyday life and working environment was forced by a rapid development in the last five years. Open Educational Resources are not only a challenge to implement digital learning material but also to open sharing educational resources to and for everybody (democratizing education). Learners are able to create learning material on a collaborative basis.(C) Partners:The consortium is a team of seven partners with very good experience in the fields of qualification research, practice in VET, sustainability and VET, the development of OER and organizing and work-ing on EU-projects in this area. The partners are NGOs, institutions with different levels of education and institutions of social partners.(D)Activities, Processes, Dissemination:The project is divided into 5 phases. The team will work on teaching material for VET in the fields of transport / logistics and nursing OER educational materials in the context of vocational education for sustainable development. The results of the project will be created as OER.
Context / background: As outlined in detail in the application, the premise of the GreenSkills4VET project is that sustainability issues are relevant for all companies in all sectors. In order to effectively contribute to the implementation of environmental and sustainability improvements in their workplaces, students and staff need to acquire the inevitable knowledge, understanding, skills, experience and, last but not least, the awareness of their responsibility for our common future (Stibbe, Arran: 2009, The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy: Skills for a Changing World. Foxhole). To explain the background, the project application outlined the assumption that there is a lack of effective practices at all decision making levels even though, at the time of the application, the most recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report once again made the negative economic and social consequences of climate change very clear. Objectives: GreenSkills4VET was a project by 7 partner institutions from 5 European countries running from October 2016 to November 2018. The aim was to develop exemplary learning units for the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector which deal with the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic, environmental and social). The two occupational fields selected to serve as examples were transport/logistics as well as healthcare and nursing. Trainers/teachers and trainees/ students can acquire skills and knowledge which enable them to generate sustainability competences at their specific workplace. Number and profile of institutions taking part: 7 partner institutions from Germany, France, Austria, Greece and Bulgaria were involved in the project, all of which have experience and expertise in the sectors chosen for the project: qualification research, practice in VET, organising and working on EU-projects in this area, education for sustainable development (ESD) and VET, as well as the development of digital educational materials. The partners are NGOs, education and training institutions working at different levels of education, and institutions of social partners. BERICHTSENTWURF Description of the main activities carried out: The project was divided into 5 phases. The team worked on teaching material for VET in the fields of transport / logistics (freight forwarding clerks) and health care (registered nurses) focused on sustainable development. The results of the project have been created as Open Educational Resources (OER) and are thus freely available to use in training. In IO1 the regulatory instruments existing in the occupational fields, such as framework curricula and curricula, in each of the 5 partner countries were recorded and analysed, and a comparative analysis report (CAR) about the status of BNE and OER in VET was compiled. In IO2 a reference frame established on didactic methodological principles was created for the development of efficient training and teaching materials and, against this background, the development of learning units in the form of OER commenced in parallel. In IO3 a manual on the creation of sustainability based OER in VET, primarily aimed at trainers and teachers, was produced. Work also continued on the OER. In IO4 the OER were extensively evaluated/tested in practical tests (e.g. in regular classes) and expert interviews, and subsequently finalised. In IO5 the learning units and all other components of the GreenSkills4VET LearnBox – including comprehensive didactic methodological supplementary material (short description in tabular form of the learning unit as well as content-related background information, specific lesson plan with recommended materials and time frames, explanation of practical experiences gained by project partners during the creation and testing of each learning unit) – were prepared along standardised lines for dissemination and made available on the project homepage www.greenskills4vet.eu. Results achieved and impact: Based on the desk-research results of the project partners, interviews with their partners working in practice, and the further research over the course of the project, it was possible to confirm the implementation gap assumed in the project proposal: ESD and OER haven’t found their way in VET classes. In Logistics the subject sustainability can be found in curricula and digital competences are taught, in German heath care classes digitalisation equipment is rarely available und sustainability for the first time is subject of the training and examination regulations for the nursing professions adopted in 2018. For the Logistics VET the following learning units are developed: 1. introductory unit, which sensitizes to ecological sustainability aspects in Logistics, 2 about sustainable reverse logistics (instead of throwaway logistics), 3. About ecological strategies of a future-oriented logistic company and 4. about social sustainability – the Corporate Social Responsibility in a logistic company. For the health care there are units like 1. introductory unit about ecological sustainability aspects in organisation and activities in health care, 2. About medicamentation administration which is based on the greek model of social pharmacies to give medicine shortly before their sell-by date free to poor sick people.- an ecological as well as social sustainable solution, 3. about social sustainability by learning a more healthy coping of stressful interaction situations in health care. The materials produced have been made available as Open Educational Resources (OER), and emphasise the active role of learners in the learning process as well as the freedom of the teachers – within the scope of the licence conditions (Creative Commons-Attribution "Share Alike", CC BY SA) – to freely use the materials, adjust them according to their own teaching conditions and needs, and to publish them again. Long-term use: The units are developed for EQF 4-5, but as OER it’s easy to adapt them to higher EQF level as well as for professional development and neighbouring sectors. The learning units and the supplementary material makes it easier for trainers and political decision-makers in the education system to bring ESD into VET, and so to sensitize students as the future players in the jobs/ companies to sustainable development, to teach them to acquire sustainability competences and to realize the climate change. A lot of stakeholders in schools and politics are willing to implement our units. So the results shows as an example how sustainability competences as key competences can be transferred into education system and society.