In order to prompt eco-literacy, drive inclusive climate action and fight climate denial, ECOLitAct sought to make green education and training accessible to all, regardless of their background. To achieve that, ECOLitAct aimed at contributing to innovation in VET through digitalised and self-paced training opportunities, as well as at creating innovative material that could be directly utilised by VET practitioners/educators throughout Europe. The goal was to make learning opportunities available for VET learners to engage in tackling climate denial and adopting more sustainable attitudes through climate and environmental knowledge as well as MIL skills to raise reflection and critical engagement with media. ECOLitAct also sought to target specific knowledge gaps to deepen interest and engagement in an adaptable and personalised manner. This included the development of a self-assessment tool, digital lessons in recipe format, and digital scenarios and OERs in subjects related to eco-literacy and eco-behaviours/attitudes to be used in distance learning. Focusing on inclusivity, ECOLitAct also aimed to promote EUROPASS as a tool for participants to document their skills and competencies.
The main motivation behind the project arose from the realization that mis- and disinformation regarding climate and environmental topics oftentimes ground lack of engagement, disbelief, and even climate denial. ECOLitAct was based on the perception that inclusive and innovative (green) education and training as well as reflectivity are key to counter climate denial. It further acknowledged that while digitalisation is ever-growing and news is spread through social media at a rate and speed never before seen, people tend to quickly go through information without fact-checking. ECOLitAct thus addressed the need to improve media and information literacy (MIL - our capacity to access, critically regard, and interact with media) as well as behaviours/attitudes in relation to environmentalism and climate change. It also acknowledged the issue of accessibility of information to all citizens, placing a special focus on people with fewer opportunities and on contributing to innovation in VET through digitalised and self-paced training opportunities.