The work of GIZ for a green and just transition
Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems that were designed in an industrial context must be renewed and redesigned to fit the requirements of a just transition to a green future. GIZ assists partner countries in broadening access to high-quality education and shaping this green transformation. Currently, 27 projects with a focus on skills for green jobs are being implemented by GIZ. Some of these are regional while others just focus on one country.
One key component of the preparation for a green future is the definition of skills that strengthen individuals as agents of socio-environmental change. Here, technical skills are just as important as the cross-cutting and overarching skills that are needed for ‘green’ and ‘greening’ activities.
GIZ supports the development of skills for a green transformation, as an effective instrument for transitioning to resource-efficient economies. The medium-term goal is to provide urgently needed skilled workers and experts. From a strategic perspective, we use skills development for a green future to:
- promote employability – not just within the framework of initial training but also as part of lifelong learning;
- make efficient use of phases of unemployment;
- promote entrepreneurial thinking and action in green sectors;
- support the transition to a sustainable economy;
- promote awareness of the responsible use of natural resources;
- contribute to the sustainable management of our planet’s limited resources and to mitigate climate change.
Source: FAKT consult
In 2022, GIZ published a series of five studies under the title ‘Skills for a just transition to a green future’. The set comprised three sectoral studies on TVET for renewable energies, for sustainable mobility and for sustainable construction (GIZ, 2022). The fourth and fifth studies were a discussion paper and a vision paper discussing how the transformative potential of TVET can be harnessed to shape a just transition.
The discussion paper describes four different approaches, namely:
- modernisation and greening of TVET systems;
- employment promotion for green jobs based on the concept of just transition;
- demand-oriented qualification of skilled workers in selected green sectors;
- skills for green jobs in the informal sector.
GIZ uses these approaches to:
- integrate environmental aspects in education policies, strategies and action plans, and integrate employment and social policy aspects in the reorientation of economic and energy policies;
- develop new qualification offers for resource-efficient management, for example in the areas of renewable energies and waste management;
- support the ‘greening’ of existing qualification offers, for example by incorporating environmental aspects and resource efficiency into existing qualifications;
- develop training multipliers, for example by improving pedagogic, didactic, methodologic, and technical skills of school staff and in-company instructors;
- accelerate the ‘greening of schools’ by promoting sustainability concepts at vocational schools and universities to increase awareness and behaviour.
In all these approaches, equal participation of women and marginalised groups is emphasised.
Project example: Georgia
Georgia officially joined the OECD Green Growth Declaration in 2016 but has yet to develop a sustainable development or green growth strategy focusing on sustainable management of natural resources. Georgia commits to introducing the resource-efficient production and consumption concept that promotes the transition towards a green economy. Additional drivers for the shift toward a green development pathway are the EU Accession Agreement and the requirement to align national policies to EU standards. Georgia’s green growth ambitions aim to curb its annual carbon dioxide emissions and increase the number of green jobs in the long run. The country’s Education Strategy 2022–30 envisages the promotion of green competencies.
The project ‘VET in Georgia's Growth Sectors’ (2023–26) was commissioned by BMZ and is being implemented by GIZ. It helps to modernise the TVET system and make it greener. The main challenge is that, in general, the move towards a green transition is not yet enforced. As a result, the private sector is not yet demanding defined sets of green skills because regulations do not yet force them to. However, some green potential is already tapped in priority sectors that follow international trends and customer demands, such as in tourism and wine. This offers the opportunity to include all green skills into new qualification standards as the private sector is very much aware of them. The fact that a significant number of qualification standards are currently revised gives the project the chance to raise awareness of green skills across different sectors and build capacity in identifying green potential during the process of standards development, which is led by the private sector. Generally, policy makers are ready to give priority to green skills as they are very much aware that the beauty of Georgia is a huge economic potential they want to keep for the coming generations.
Project example: Morocco
The Tamheen project, commissioned by BMZ and implemented by GIZ, aims at bolstering dual vocational training in the IT and logistics sectors of Morocco. It is currently working on a training module designed to calculate carbon footprints. This module will be seamlessly integrated into various training curricula within the logistics sector, with the intention of certifying several dozens of TVET school teachers and company trainers, along with up to 3,000 apprentices.
The genesis of this module can be found in engagements with numerous logistics companies and training centres, entities with which Tamheen is presently engaged in dual training endeavours. These interactions served as preliminary discussions to gauge areas of interest.
Subsequently, Tamheen convened a conference with international experts that looked at the diverse aspects of green logistics. Following this conference, stakeholders unanimously identified the impending carbon tax on exports to the EU as a critical concern. It was noted that companies failing to assess their carbon footprint may encounter disadvantages in the future.
In the next phase the project identified experts from all over Europe who knew their way around the European legal framework pertaining to carbon taxation and who had previously devised relevant training programmes. Zaragoza Logistics Centre, a Spanish entity, came out on top after a competitive tender process. Their existing module is now being tailored to suit the Moroccan context before commencing the training of TVET school teachers and company trainers.
Even though it is not finished yet, this project is already a success because of the way it aligns with the expressed needs of companies and training centres.
In conclusion, it is imperative to engage with interested parties, be it companies, business associations or others, without imposing mandates on them or on the broader partnership. Pertinent topics, such as navigating the legal framework surrounding the forthcoming carbon tax for exports to the EU, are of inherent interest to companies. Additionally, themes related to cost efficiency, exemplified by Tamheen's concurrent development of an energy efficiency training module, resonate strongly within the corporate sphere, offering tangible benefits in terms of savings on energy expenditure.
References
GIZ (2022), Vision Paper, What TVET can and must do in a Just Transition to a Green Economy, GIZ, Bonn.
GIZ (2022), Discussion Paper, Skills for a just transition to a green future, GIZ, Bonn.
GIZ (2023), TVET for Renewable Energies, GIZ, Bonn.
GIZ (2024), TVET for Sustainable Construction, GIZ, Bonn.
BMZ (2023), Action Paper, Skilled workers for the global energy transition, BMZ.
VET Toolbox (2024), Toolkit, Skills for the Green Transformation – VET Toolbox
Tamheen Project Website, Accueil - Dual | Tamheen (in French).
GIZ TVET Academy – training courses
Green Transition - Green Economies, Green Competences and Green Jobs
Greening TVET Institutions - Frameworks, Features and Approaches