The identified need was clear: there is an emerging market need to have skilled manpower who are aware of their sector’s impact on the environment and climate, have an open mindset for innovation and practical skills for developing green ideas. Due to these global trends, it is inevitable to improve the green entrepreneurial skills of VET students. Thus, the main objective of the project was to encourage VET students to develop their own green ideas and prepare them for participating in green ideathons (greenathons) where they can try themselves out in real conditions. It was important for the partnership to provide a common theoretical background related to green entrepreneurship without duplicating already existing materials. Another goal was to help students gain soft skills which are useful in the greenathons but also later in their future work, including idea development, collaboration and presentation skills. Students could only be reached via teachers; this way, empowering educators with the project results was also important. The ultimate goal for the students was to be able to contribute to a greener, more sustainable and climate-neutral future in their industry as professionals, while also equipping their teachers.
All the organisations in the partnership experienced the rapid changes in technology and how it affects not only the industries, but also working opportunities and education. The other phenomenon that all partners agreed on was the rise of sustainability in our economy, society and daily lives. The growing awareness, needs, and expectations of the customers can only be managed with green entrepreneurial mindsets. The partnership agreed that new or improved skills are needed for businesses to respond to all these trends. The project idea focused on the vocational education and training sector due to the high rate of labour force coming from this type of education. Therefore, the partnership identified the need to develop new materials and methods to support VET students in becoming green entrepreneurs or employees with green mindsets. According to the partners’ desk research and own experience, there are many materials and trainings in sustainability and entrepreneurship; therefore, for the project idea, a new learning approach was defined, which does not predominantly focus on theoretical knowledge, but helps gain practical experience in green idea development, which can be useful for both future entrepreneurs and employees.