ECO-CENT (2021-2023) brought together a diverse group of public body, research institutes, higher education institution, trainers (SMEs), and chambers of commerce to support members of the education and business communities to adapt their respective practices to respond to the environmental and climate crisis we are facing. The project’s focus was on the practical skill development of business owners, VET providers and trainers. Five project results were produced following an iterative and participatory development approach: PR1. Circular economy business modelling curriculum PR2. Skunk-Works Framework Facilitating an Innovation Ecosystem for VET PR3. In-service training programme PR4. ECO-CENT MOOC and Community of Practice PR5. Policy Paper ECO-CENT’s activities supported business owners and VET providers and trainers with validated knowledge regarding the circular economy and the green transition in Europe. Multistakeholders foruns were organised and developed in each country of the partnership during the project lifespan to identify the problems, bottlenecks or issues to be addressed to make VET more responsive to the challenge of growing the circular economy of the local economies concerned.
ECO-CENT was initiated to support the transformative potential of business models driven by social, economic and environmental sustainability objectives. Its design allows to mainly involve: (1) entrepreneurs and business owners, committed to adopting business models premised on up-cycling and re-cycling, resource efficiency, and ensuring valuable resources are not simply discarded but live on in innovative products and services; (2) and, iVET and cVET providers and trainers, supporting their continuous professional development in this domain. Thus, by bringing innovation to the forefront of VET provision and businesses in each country – Portugal, Ireland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece and Cyprus – the ECO-CENT addressed the following needs: 1) contribute to a more circular global economy, by targeted training offered on a local level to support business communities’ endeavours. 2) contribute to improve VET offer meeting the needs of emerging trends like the circular economy, by targeted training on a local level to develop a culture of innovation and creativity. 3) contribute to cross-sectoral collaboration, by local synergies with VET providers and business representatives, bringing innovation to their own practice.