DEADLINE EXTENDED - The ETF harvests good practice on skills for the green transition

Turin, 31 March 2021 – The European Training Foundation (ETF) has launched a call for examples of good practice on the role of skills in empowering the green transition. The call, entitled ’Green transition: education, training and skills’ aims to collect stories about how education, training and skills development is supporting the shift towards sustainable, clean, carbon-neutral circular economies and societies. The aim is to provide ideas and inspiration for education and training policy-makers and practitioners in the EU neighbourhood and beyond. The best stories will be showcased at a major international conference organised jointly by the ETF and UNESCO on 21-25 June 2021.

Deadline for applications: 7 April 2021.

Skills: a driver of the green transition

Climate change, environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity are major global challenges with an impact on livelihoods and societies worldwide. Achieving sustainability and carbon-neutrality has major implications for education, training and skills.

It creates a need for all citizens to be environmentally aware; it creates a need for environmentally friendly technologies, production processes, products, services, and business models across all sectors of the economy. This creates new occupations, and changes the way traditional occupations are performed. That means people need to develop new knowledge and skills, not just in initial education and training, but at all ages and stages in life.

This requires close interaction between education and training systems and their environments to build skills ecosystems in which skills development goes hand in hand with economic, technological and social change.

Harvesting green stories from the EU neighbourhood, and beyond

The ETF is seeking to showcase examples of tried and tested methods as well as innovative approaches to skills development supporting the green transition. Anyone with an interesting story to tell is invited to share it, for example success stories from:

• Enterprises, in introducing new “green” technologies and production processes  and developing the skills of their staff to apply them;
• Training providers, equipping teachers and trainers with up-to-date knowledge on environmental issues and green technologies;
• Industries and sectors, in introducing training standards or training courses developing green skills for industry;
• Public and private institutions, in developing environmental awareness programmes, in coordination between different ministries and public bodies;
• Public employment services, in matching jobs with training provision and raising awareness about green business opportunities;
• Schools that become greener;
• Public-private partnerships that work for green development.

Successful finalists will receive an award for the Development of Skills for the Green Transition. The top stories will be showcased at a major international conference entitled Building lifelong learning systems: skills for green and inclusive societies in the digital era, organised jointly the ETF and Unesco on 21-25 June 2021, as well as in ETF publications and communications. The most interesting stories will be picked to feature in ETF short films. Some of these will be shown at the ETF conference in 2021 and promoted on the ETF social media channels.

Applications can be submitted up to 7 April 2021 in  English, French or Russian.

More information

• Call: Green transition: education, training and skills

Press team

Daria Santucci, Press Officer, daria.santucci@etf.europa.eu, +39 366 9639638; Michela Zabaglia, Press Trainee, michela.zabaglia@etf.europa.eu