ETF Network for Excellence - GRETA: Taking a 'deep dive' into the green!

On Thursday 27 October 2022, the ETF launched the fourth of six thematic webinars as part of its initiative, ETF Network for Excellence (ENE) and GRETA – Greening Responses to Excellence Through Thematic Actions. Continuing its strategic partnership with the Danish Technological Institute (DTI), the online meeting was hosted by ETF’s José Manuel Galvin-Arribas, Content Coordinator for ENE, and Susanne M. Nielsen, ETF’s expert leading GRETA. More than 150 attendees joined online to listen to case studies of the key role VET plays in fostering the knowledge, skills and innovation to enable workers, as well as enterprises, to shape and transform their practices towards greater sustainability.

Susanne Nielsen got the meeting started on a philosophical note. ‘As Socrates said, “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom”, I’d like to add that, "To know thyself is the beginning of excellence”’! ENE and GRETA are built on the concept of excellence, partnership, strategic cooperation, knowledge share and feedback, and this collaborative ethos is what underpins the continual expansion of the ENE across Europe, Europe’s neighbouring regions and beyond.

Susanne Nielsen, Leading GRETA, ETF

Julian Stanley, Senior Expert at the ETF, presented the ETF’s quality and development tool which is aimed at supporting Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) and other VET institutions to achieve green excellence in their training programmes.  The international self-assessment tool for Centres of Vocational Education, ISATCOV, which is expected to be ready in 2024, will help individual CoVEs and CoVE clusters to self-assess, share and compare their performance, capabilities and practices which will 'help institutions to gather strong evidence on which to develop their plans and objectives as part of the green transition.' A quick mentimeter to ascertain whether a carbon impact indicator should be incorporated to enable schools and pupils to assess their own carbon footprints resulted in a resounding ‘Yes!’, providing another example of the dynamism and responsiveness of the ENE’s participating members.

Julian Stanley, ETF

The EU policy framework of the dual green and digital transitions provides a backdrop to the skills trends that are emerging in the EU labour market. Jasper Van Loo, Senior Skills Expert from Cedefop discussed the different type of skills as part of the green transition. 

'There are technical skills, such as digital, and then there are transversal skills which include thinking green and acting green.' 

Sustainability competences will drive the green transition which is an opportunity to counter the job polarisation that many labour markets are currently experiencing. Analysis and knowledge sharing in the form of sectorial research is helping to identify new and emerging occupations, and the role of VET institutions is essential in activating networks that help employers change their employment ecosystem.

'VET is a key partner in shaping the context for achieving the green transition, and workers and learners are key actors in making the green transition happen.'

As always with the ENE GRETA webinars, a number of best practice case studies were shared from VET institutions from EU member states.  Sigita Jasinska, from the Ogre Technical School in Latvia, discussed the integration of the lifelong learning module ‘Green Skills’ across its curriculum and showcased its current activities to promote green skills.  'Learning by doing is the most effective way,' said Jasinska, to encourage students to ‘think green’ on a daily basis. A number of new qualifications and thematic programs promote different stakeholders to cooperate which, in turn, maximises the impact. 

'Young people are very good at "going green" - talking about it, understanding what it means and changing their habits.'

Likka Upanne from the Finnish company, Omnia Education Partnerships, outlined their activities in developing the Technical VET (TVET) ecosystem with international partners. 'Greening inside VET needs the trainers to be trained,' again underscoring the importance of sharing knowledge and expertise.  Mia O’Neill, Director of Sykli Environmental School of Finland, shared their experience of training courses, consultation and other expert services in adult education and lifelong learning, demonstrating how their typical student, aged between 30 and 50, facilitates strategic cooperation between individuals and organisations working on their corporate responsibility.

Mia O’Neill, Director of Sykli Environmental School of Finland

The fourth thematic session in the GRETA partnership was concluded with brief closing remarks by Susanne M. Nielsen, Lead expert for GRETA at ETF, who thanked all presenters as well as participants for joining. She also stated sources of additional information on GRETA (GRETA’s Open Space page) and ETF (ETF’s website). 

After inviting participants to turn on their cameras for a group photograph, Susanne M. Nielsen concluded by highlighting the upcoming two-day conference of the ENE network on 29^th and 30^th of November 2022.

Webinar speakers and participants

Before we go – please take part…

Please do register to take part in the online consultation webinar for the international self-assessment tool for Centres of Vocational Education (ISATCOV).  The webinar takes place on 23 November at 14:00 CET.

? Register here by 17 November  https://bit.ly/3g1Hb0j

? Alternatively, please complete the following survey by 30 Novemberhttps://bit.ly/3SFc2xd.