Introduction: The World is facing an urgent challenge with regards to the environment. We must act fast to safeguard our planet and keep it habitable for the generations to come. There is a strong consensus about this both in the EU and at the UN. Yet, various countries are struggling in this regard and lack formal preparation and training to address environmental issues. VET plays a key part in this as it prepares learners in a variety of subjects that are all connected, somehow, to the environment. Besides, students are citizens of the world and will be the leaders and policy makers of the future, thus impacting our planet. Context, Needs & Objectives: Greening is defined as the process of becoming active about protecting the environment. The idea for this project is to promote the training about Greening in VET in line with policies of the EU and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as identified by the United Nations Development Programme for the year 2030. The international partners in this project come from 5 European countries and each partner brings unique expertise to the project. The objectives are: 1. To raise awareness of the Greening issues across all VET disciplines and link them to the SDG priorities; 2. To disseminate knowledge and deliver relevant accredited training related to Greening; 3. To include Greening across all VET curricula through the design, development and deployment of an accredited module that can be included in any VET course curriculum or else taken independently; 4. To up-skill and prepare VET teachers in the Greening and environmental issues; 5. To outreach, provide relevant information and involve all VET learners and the local communities in Greening. The Target Groups of this project are: 1. VET Learners – VET students are the primary target group of this project as the project aims to reach out to them and to provide them with Greening related exposure and training that would benefit in their employability skills as well as members of the community. 2. VET Teachers – VET Teachers will be targeted by involving them in the design and development of the accredited training module about Greening. The teachers will also be provided with a skills tool-box to enable them to deliver the Greening related training in the most effective manner. 3. The Communities – The ultimate beneficiaries of the project are the communities as they improve in their understanding of Greening issues, they benefit from the job and employment opportunities created through Greening initiatives. Why a transnational project? The transnational dimension of this project needs to be emphasised. The partners in Spain, Malta and Greece have technical experience in renewable energy; the MCAST has experience with accreditation while the partners from Macedonia and Malta have experience in environmental issues. The project therefore has both a strong technical expertise in the areas it will cover but also provide an excellent opportunity for cross-training and knowledge sharing amongst the partner institutions and countries. The project theme is in line with the EU priorities (ref. Maastricht Communique 2004, Bruges 2011) which illustrates the need for "increased relevance and quality of VET through the systematic involvement of all key partners in developments at national, regional and local level". Furthermore, the project is consistent with the European Commission's priorities in promoting green growth at local and regional level. Apart from improving the relevance of VET, this project has the objective of strengthening the European dimension in VET, which is a target of Copenhagen Declaration (2002). This may only be achieved through the collaboration and cooperation in transnational projects and the development of inter-institutional partnerships and collaborations so that the profile and attractiveness of VET may be raised for increased employability and improved socio-economic outcomes (Strasbourg Communique 2012). On a global level, the project is in sync with the SDG 2030 as issued by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). Also, the project has a direct influence on employability, both in the short and long term, since the relevance of Greening in various jobs and careers has become very important today. Generally speaking, this project will result in the modernization of the VET approach in a number of countries with respect to Greening issues. The subsequent potential of disseminating the knowledge gained across the EU and its partner countries as well as to the global platform increase the significance of this project. Building a Legacy Finally, the project partners would like to ensure that this project leaves a legacy: This will happen because the output products of this project will be disseminated not only in the partner countries but also across the EU, and effectively globally through the Internet.
The idea for this project is to promote the training about Greening in VET in line with policies of the EU and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as identified by the United Nations Development Programme for the year 2030. Since the project started, the project themes of Greening and the SDGs have been prioritized by the EU, UN and countries across the globe. The importance of teaching about Greening and the SDGs has become so much more relevant and important as the years passed making this project very highly relevant. The successful completion of the project provides a wealth of knowledge and reference material that will aid schools, institutions and policy makers with formal preparation and training to address Greening and the SDGs. VET plays a key part in this as it prepares learners in a variety of subjects that are all connected, somehow, to the environment. Besides, students are citizens of the world and will be the leaders and policy makers of the future, thus impacting our planet. The project was partially impacted by the Covid19 pandemic, but a 4 month extension of the project enabled the partners to complete the project successfully. In fact the objectives set out in the project application were achieved: 1. To raise awareness of the Greening issues across all VET disciplines and link them to the SDG priorities; This was achieved with the engagement of learners and teachers at various stages of the project and will continue after the project end in view of the website and smartphone app that will be maintained by the partners. The Intellectual Outputs (IO) 1 (which developed the study unit for learners) and 2 & 3 (which provided the teacher training and toolkit) helped significantly to meet this objective. The Teacher training activity C1 was also a very important contributor to this goal. 2. To disseminate knowledge and deliver relevant accredited training related to Greening; The activities mentioned in 1 above helped disseminate the knowledge and accredited training about Greening and the SDGs. Apart from this, various activities held at the partner institutions helped in this regard as well. Just to mention the "Foster a Tree" campaign run at MCAST in Malta amongst others as documented in the greening guidebook produced in IO6. 3. To include Greening across all VET curricula through the design, development and deployment of an accredited module that can be included in any VET course curriculum or else taken independently; This was completed under IO1. A VET accredited Level 4 training module was developed and shared with all partners. At the end of the project, the knowledge has been shared with UNESCO UNEVOC to disseminate across its global network of 220 Centres. 4. To up-skill and prepare VET teachers in the Greening and environmental issues; This objective was achieved as IO 2 & 3 were developed and a group of teachers (4 from each partner) were trained and certified to deliver the training as part of the Training activity C1. 5. To outreach, provide relevant information and involve all VET learners and the local communities in Greening. This objective was achieved in a number of ways. Some are the Greening activities embarked on the campus involving learners and staff, the development of an informative website and smartphone app to engage with local and global communities on the aspects of Greening and the SDGs, the design and development of the Greening Guidebook for schools developed under IO6. Therefore, the Target Groups of VET Learners, VET Teachers and the Communities were properly addressed and engaged as planned in the project application. The transnational dimension of this project needs to be emphasized. The partners in Spain, Malta, North Macedonia and Greece have contributed significantly through their knowledge and expertise to all the activities of the project. This reflects on the quality of the outputs. Also the project has a direct influence on employability, both in the short and long term, since the relevance of Greening in various jobs and careers has become very important today. Learners with relevant training in Greening are valued highly. At the project application stage we had stated "Generally speaking, this project will result in the modernization of the VET approach in a number of countries with respect to Greening issues. The subsequent potential of disseminating the knowledge gained across the EU and its partner countries as well as to the global platform increase the significance of this project." And this has been achieved and will continue to be achieved in the years to come with the material and knowledge developed and disseminated. The project partners had also stated that their intention is to build a legacy of this project and this is happening now as the output products of this project are being disseminated not only in the partner countries but also across the EU, UNESCO UNEVOC and effectively globally through the Internet.