The overall objective of the project is to strengthen VET students’ socio-emotional skills so they become more resilient and better prepared for the challenges of the energy transition. We aim to combine technical competences with digital and generic skills by using IoT-based data platforms, virtual exchanges and collaborative activities. Specifically, we want to raise awareness about sustainability, improve students’ digital skills in data management and visualization, and foster their interpersonal and intrapersonal competences such as teamwork, adaptability, resilience and creativity. The project also promotes European citizenship by encouraging international cooperation and exchange among students and teachers. In this way, the project contributes to preparing a skilled workforce able to lead and support the green transition.
We applied for this project because the energy transition requires new technical and digital skills as well as strong socio-emotional competences among VET students. Technical schools traditionally focus mainly on hard skills, but our experience has shown that students also need to develop generic skills such as teamwork, communication, resilience and international cooperation in order to succeed in a rapidly changing and unpredictable labour market. The project addresses the need to combine technical training with soft skills development, preparing students to become skilled and responsible ambassadors for the green transition. It also responds to the negative social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, where many young people have experienced challenges with collaboration, communication and emotional well-being.