The project starts from the observation that the environmental sustainability is often presented at high school in a simplistic way and not always in the correct manner, although it represents one of the 5 key issues of Europe 2020 and a crucial EU document Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe ‘11 aims to transform the Europe’s economy in a sustainable one by 2050. It is fundamental that this concept will be correctly delivered within VET system. Innovative tools, aimed at implementing the basic and specific knowledge on the topic can be developed by a highly qualified partnership, able to involve in the project key figures coming from the triangle of knowledge to offer suitable tools to VET trainers and teachers.Keeping in mind this idea and the general objectives and priorities of the Program, an European partnership committed to achieve a common objective has been formed for the Project. 6 partners, with different typology, from 5 different EU countries (2 IT, DK, ES, LT, UK), are involved in the project. They have a great experience in the educational and environmental sectors and also strong interactions with stakeholders of the productive and social system in their reference contexts. One partner is newcomer for the EU projects in the sector.During the preparation of the proposal, the partners have shared their own approaches, experiences and ideas in order to reach a common strategy in the development of the project proposal. The aim of the project is to provide a coherent set of information and a program of advanced didactic modules targeted to VET teachers. Modules will be designed (also using ECVET criteria) to help teachers to develop in their students an EU enviromental-friendly way of thinking and a proactive attitude to be part of a process aimed at making successful the road toward a resource efficient Europe. One of the most innovative aspect is the strong interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral character of the project, because it can extend to the VET system the synergy between training, scientific research and enterprises promoted by the EU through HORIZON 2020 and LIFE programmes.EN-VET will be composed of 5 Ios devoted to get innovative didactical products who originate the proposal and 3 process activities devoted to a correct management of the project (management, quality, dissemination). The tasks of the different IOs will be achieved through various intermediate steps, but the final results, that will be available for free to all the interested users through the project website and the book, will be 5:1) a comparative Report;2) at least 3 introductory didactical modules;3) at least 5 advanced didactical modules dealing with specific case studies;4) a testing report with the appreciation of the products;5) the document on guidelines.These products will be done by the partners’ experts and thanks to the stakeholders from productive and social systems and the trainers/teachers/managers of the VET system involved in planning, testing and validating the products.At the end of the project another O5 product will be the book (offered also on line) who will collect all the project results.The management of the whole Project will be performed by the Coordinator, assisted by a Project Board. They will harmonize and integrate the foreseen actions, tasks and deliverables, also thanks to an efficient communication towards 4 groups (partners of the project, ndirect and direct target groups, stakeholders and beneficiaries involved in the project activities and the Program Authority.) Five meetings will be organised in each involved country.The Quality of the System will be carried out by a system coordinator (quality manager), that will develop a Quality Plan where all partners will be involved. It will include the Risk Plan and the procedures to solve the conflicts. It will monitor the progress of the Project and evaluate its results also using SMART indicators for a quali - quantitative assessment of the activities and products and the respect of the time table.Then for the dissemination and sustainability issues the following activities are foreseen:a) a mailing list for potential users of the products of the Project, including also countries not directly involved;b) a website that will be rich, attracting and user-friendly;c) dissemination of the products through blog and social network systems acting to create interest toward the Project;d) organization of 5 multiplier events to be held in each one of the countries involved in the Project;e) writing up of 5 newsletters;f) the involvement of the local institutional decision makers of the VET system through a second mailing list At the end at least 1700 persons will be contacted during the project life span. The partners will sign a sustainability agreement that will commit them to take a set of actions in the 3 years following the completion of the project to keep in operation the developed instruments.
The project originated from 2 observations: a) in the school and in the society there is not enough talk about environmental sustainability (ES), while it is one of the 5 central points of Europe 2020; b) a fundamental EU document (Roadmap to Resource Efficient Europe '11) proposes to create a sustainable European economy by the year 2050. Wanting to operate in the VET system on these issues, we have activated a partnership able to promote a joint action of institutions belonging to the knowledge triangle, aiming at the creation of tools for VET teachers and trainers. We involved 6 very qualified partners from different fields and coming from 5 countries (IT, DK, ES, LT, UK). They have experience both in training and in environmental topics and have strong links with stakeholders in the reference contexts. Strengthened by a shared vision at the beginning, the partners immediately started to work trying to form a team focused on achieving the goals set by the project. They are: providing a coherent set of information and a program of advanced didactic modules for the VET teachers; designing the material (also using the ECVET approach) to help them develop an environmental-friendly mentality shared at European level and promoting, for their students, a proactive attitude, oriented towards the objectives of a resource-efficient Europe. EN VET realized, according to the scheduled timeframe (two more months were added to the original period) the five IOs. In particular, the following was carried out: 1) a comparative Report on the approach to ES in the involved countries, 5 country reports and 12 case studies; 2) 3 introductory didactic modules, enriched with sub-modules connected to UN Agenda 2030; 3) 6 Deepening Knowledge modules; 4) a more extensive than expected and very fruitful testing activity of the modules; 5) the EN VET Book with guidelines and the enhancement of the value for the products. This material is offered free of charge to the European VET system and is ready to be used by VET teachers who will manage the tools according to their needs and their educational objectives. Each one of the 9 modules is divided into three sections (handbook to organize the teaching; presentation with slides and learning questionnaire); they cover these topics: Renewable and non-renewable natural resources; Human load capacity of the Earth; Efficient management of resources in the EU; Circular economy; The water resource; Low carbon emissions in cement production; Sustainable waste management; Sustainable textile production; Energy efficient buildings. VET teachers, using the EN VET tools, will be able to increase their knowledge on strategic topics for humankind and transfer them to their students. On the other hand, the modules proved to be useful also for updating adults interested in the topic. To achieve these products, from a methodological point of view, a highly intersectoral approach was used in order to recreate, in this case for the VET system, a synergy between training, scientific research and companies similar to that existing in the EU programs such as HORIZON 2020 and LIFE. This is one of the most innovative aspects of the project and it was possible by involving, in addition to partner experts, stakeholders from the production, research and VET trainers, to contribute to the planning and drafting of products and then to test and validate them. The management of the project was carried out by the Coordinator, assisted by a Steering Committee. The climate in the partnership has been always clear and productive; no conflicts or misunderstandings have ever arisen. From the beginning there was full responsibility of all partners for the implementation of management activities; each of them coordinated one of the activities and actively participated in the others. Proper communication to strategic recipients has been ensured; 5 project meetings were organized (one in each partner country); a Quality Plan has been planned, a constant monitoring of the project has been carried out and a final Report on the Quality System has been drawn up which used more than 100 indicators. Each product was evaluated by external experts and then approved with the consensus of the whole partnership. Finally the dissemination was made using various tools: two mailing lists; web page linked to the platform (www.en-vet.eu); blogs and social networks; 5 multiplier events; the brochure and the newsletters; printing and dissemination of the book. In total we estimate that around 2000 people were contacted during the life of the project. During the last meeting the partners approved a sustainability agreement. It commits them to carry out a series of actions in the years after the end of the project, to allow a full functionality of the tools developed; these actions have already been successfully launched.