Boosting green and digital skills in the EU's neighbouring regions
Skills development for the green and digital transitions is a transversal issue within all of the ETF’s activities and an important component of ETF policy advice to governments and stakeholders, and policy analysis and progress monitoring as part of the Torino Process.
An overview of ETF activities here shows how we are supporting the interaction of education and training systems and their environments, aligned with sectoral greening and digital strategies. The aim is to build skills ecosystems integrated with economic, technological and social change. More in depth articles follow in this edition on the ETF's GRETA initiative, the ETF's Digital Education Reform Framework (DERF) and the ETF's Green Skills Awards.
Understanding skills and supporting responsive education and training systems
The ETF’s work includes the mapping and anticipation of changing skills in partner countries and understanding the preparedness of education and training systems, particularly vocational education systems, to ensure citizens and current and future employees have the necessary skills to meet growing demand. Specific scientific and technical green skills for certain occupations will be required but not only. Every individual, at all ages and stages in life, will need transversal skills and competences and general environmental awareness to be able to live and thrive in the green economy.
National and international networks
The ETF builds and supports networks at multiple levels to ensure the creation of new knowledge and the building of expertise. The ETF Network for Excellence (ENE) supports centres of vocational excellence in the greening of their vocational and education training provision through the GRETA initiative, which supports the green transition through peer learning.
As part of the ENE initiative, a new project has just been launched which focuses on the international dimensions of centres of excellence. One of the priorities of the project is to collectively steer local and regional skills ecosystems and ensure they contribute to today’s priorities – the green and digital transitions, in particular. Studies will be undertaken on how centres of vocational excellence support the EU’s green and digital objectives, as well as assessing their contribution to innovation and applied research
Meanwhile, the ETF Skills Lab Network of Experts brings together experts and researchers from across countries and institutions to develop and disseminate labour market research on skills anticipation and matching including for the green and digital transitions. At the same time, the GLAD network supports partnerships and enhances the contribution of multiple stakeholders to the governance of vocational education and training, skills development and lifelong learning.
Sectoral studies
The ETF undertakes sectoral studies to better understand the impact of global trends and inform policy advice and country interventions, such as the recent study on the agri-food sector in the Western Balkans.
Moreover, the ETF’s smart specialisation methodological approach enables each region to identify local strengths and assets, and to develop its own competitive advantages together with the identification of current, emerging and future skills needs and the ability of the education and training system to respond to those needs.
Frameworks and tools for competence development
The ETF offers tools to support reform efforts including those developed by the European Commission: GreenComp, the European Sustainability Competence Framework; DigComp, the European Digital Competence Framework; DigCompEdu, the European Framework for the Digital Competence of Educators; the EU’s SELFIE tool, designed to help schools embed digital technologies into teaching, learning and assessment. These are complemented by the ETF's models and tools including the ETF’s READY model, the Reference model for Educators' Activities and Development in the 21st-century; and the ETF's Digital Education Reform Framework (DERF), amongst others.
ETF Green Skills Award
Following on from the highly successful awards in 2021 (2021 finalists) and 2022 (2022 finalists) for good practice in skills development to empower the green transition, this year the ETF will launch the third round focusing on ‘equal opportunities, digitalisation, and youth’. By profiling outstanding success stories we hope to inspire education and training to policy makers and practitioners in the EU neighbourhood and beyond.
Interface with other policy areas
The green transition is a cross-cutting policy issue that needs to properly interface with other policy areas such as youth, migration and gender equality. The ETF works to ensure inclusive skills development and employment policies for greening by building partnerships across the policy divide and ensuring a multiple stakeholder approach to manage change.