Whilst diving into the biggest global conferences on climate change, where political leaders from all over the world discuss and look for solutions to benefit our planet, we’ve asked ourselves: Are we overlooking critical issues? What about green skills and green education? What’s the point of having access to technologically advanced devices – such as solar panels or electric cars – without having skilled people to install them, repair them or maintain them?

In this 39th episode of our podcast series, ETF expert Romain Boitard explores some strategies to bring green skills high on the political agenda of the COP29 conference in November in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Listen here

The All Digital Weeks 2024 campaign will run from 13 May until 31 May. Since its first edition in 2010, this campaign has contributed to raising people’s awareness ‘on digital skills for inclusion, empowerment and employment’ and helped them enhance their digital skills. More information about the campaign. 

“Nearly half of Europe’s adult population lacks even basic digital skills, while virtually all jobs require some level of digital skills.
Action is needed.”

_{Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights}

#ADWeeks2024  #AllDigitalWeeks
 

Running from 21 to 22 May, this webinar will provide examples from big data job vacancy analysis, matching and guidance tools, linking qualifications, occupations, and skills. It will also show how ESCO is used to analyse skill shortages in the EU and how it can be used to identify talent from third countries.

The event will be held in English, with French and Russian interpretation.

Interested in participating? Read the agenda & complete the registration form.

On 9 May we celebrate Europe Day. At a time when democracies seem increasingly under threat, let’s commemorate the signing of the Schuman Declaration in 1950, which paved the way for cooperation and peace in Europe.

“World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.”

#EuropeDay

Digital skills and learning are cross-cutting economic and social policy issues that are receiving ever more attention across the globe to ensure national economic competitiveness and workforce employability.

The importance of skills for the digital age cannot be underestimated or restricted to certain aspects of work or education given that the digital age permeates all sectors of the economy, education and the daily life of citizens. Learning opportunities need to be equally and equitably accessible to ensure everyone can benefit from the opportunities they afford and that social divisions and exclusion are not exacerbated.

Embracing the digital age requires a holistic approach and a multi-level stakeholder approach building partnerships that include cross-ministerial government representatives, social partners from a variety of sectors including education, and particularly civil society organisations and non-governmental organisations to ensure outreach to the most vulnerable.

The importance of data and evidence

The European Training Foundation (ETF) supports the design and implementation of digital skills and learning strategies to modernise vocational education and training systems within a lifelong learning perspective in transition and developing countries in the EU’s neighbouring regions. Its work is informed by European policies and initiatives such as the European Skills Agenda; the Vocational Education and Training Recommendation with its focus on digital skills development for teachers, trainers and manager; the Digital Education Action, Digital Competence Framework for Citizens, and Digital Competence Framework for Educators; and the EU Industrial Strategy amongst others.

Central to the ETF’s work is the systematic gathering of robust data and evidence on the situation within partner countries in order to best advise and support education and labour market policy reforms. The ETF deploys a number of instruments to build intelligence on countries' current and future skill needs drawing upon international data sources and national data, both quantitative and qualitative, such as the Torino Process and the European Skills and Jobs Survey.

The information collected broadens our understanding of the digital transition’s varying effects in countries with differing economic contexts and labour market characteristics. For instance, it was found that most jobs in the Western Balkans currently require no or very limited digital skills. Changes taking place at the workplace are not sufficiently accompanied by digital upskilling, while the opportunities for digital upskilling that do exist are unevenly spread and disproportionately targeted towards skilled workers. Yet, new digital technologies are impacting job design in Western Balkan countries in similar ways to their EU neighbours. Only 40% of workers in the Western Balkans had taken part in training during the previous 12 months (compared to 62% in the EU), and only a third of those had received training in digital skills. Flexible learning pathways for labour upskilling are urgently needed.

ETF initiatives supporting cooperation for digital and green skills

This edition of Learning Connects highlights recent events of two other initiatives to develop digital skills in tandem with the green transition. The first article highlights the recent closing event of the European Year of Skills and projections for the future with the spotlight on the role of skills development in navigating the green and digital transitions. The second highlights the role of centres of vocational excellence in developing skills in the Danube Region where countries of very different levels of economic and industrial development, including EU Member States and ETF partner countries, cooperate for the benefit of all within the EU’s Danube Region Platform.

Finally, we present the finalists of the ETF’s Green Skills Awards 2024. It will be a difficult choice to choose one winner but be sure to have your say and cast your vote!

On 30 April the European Training Foundation (ETF) unveiled the names of the 10 finalists of the Green Skills Award 2024 (see list below). Selected from 316 applicants from 53 countries by a panel of ETF experts for their exceptional and innovative contributions to a sustainable and eco-friendly future, these finalists offer a rich set of backgrounds and expertise. 

The winner will be chosen by public vote. A further two winners will be selected by an international jury of experts in green skills. 

Here are the 10 finalists of the Green Skills Award 2024, in alphabetical order.

📥Choose your winner. The vote is open until 31 May 2024, 13.00 CEST.



#GreenSkillsAward

• Cyprus

  
    Myrto Skouroupath

  Yenesis, a Cyprus-based project, that combines green skills development with supporting vulnerable young people, offering training, international apprenticeships, and local placements in green sectors across seven countries. Initiated by the Cyprus Energy Agency, it addresses island communities' challenges like limited job prospects and climate change vulnerability. Providing training in environmental domains and soft skills, Yenesis empowers participants to contribute to sustainable development, creating jobs, fostering startups, and engaging communities. Read More
   

   

• Indonesia

  
    Marwa Hammad

  Large-scale initiative, implemented by the Schneider Electric Foundation, aims at improving literacy and critical thinking skills in the context of clean energy transition. Over 14 weeks, nearly 20,000 students, engaged in activities aimed at understanding and reducing their community's carbon footprint. Read More

   

• Ireland

  
  Solas

  SOLAS, the agency overseeing further education and training, is spearheading the introduction of short, flexible, and accredited green micro-qualifications across the country, aiming to address climate change and foster sustainable development. These courses, including subjects like Environmental Sustainability and the Circular Economy, are designed to meet the needs of both employees and employers. Through collaboration with industry, the courses are stackable, ranging from basic awareness to workplace-focused programs. Feedback from learners and industry indicates tangible benefits such as cost reduction and increased efficiency.  Read More
• Kazakhstan

  
  Begimbetova Ainur

  The Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications (AUPET), is at the forefront of pioneering green approaches to renewable energy production and efficiency through innovative training programs. Collaborating with key stakeholders including government ministries, industry representatives and international organisations, AUPET trains a diverse range of individuals, from professionals to students, on renewable energy integration and green technologies. Read More
   

   

• Latvia

  
  Andris Visnevskis

  The Hemp school is the project that was created to promote knowledge about hemp as greener alternative to cotton. It offers educational programs covering hemp cultivation, processing, and its various industrial uses, fostering awareness and promoting sustainable practices. Participants engage in hands-on activities and interactive sessions, leading to lasting changes in attitudes and behaviours towards sustainability. With over 10,000 attendees and training in eco-friendly construction and regenerative agriculture, the Hemp School is driving a shift towards greener practices. Read More
   

   

• Madagascar

  
  Matthews Wafula

  Four Don Bosco Colleges have created The Green Clubs to combat climate change. These clubs organise various awareness-raising events, advocate for green practices, and create eco-friendly job opportunities in their communities. The aim is to implement cost-effective interventions to address global warming, climate change, and socio-economic challenges by promoting green practices and creating green jobs. The Green Clubs have engaged with over 9,000 individuals, actively striving to enact positive change at the community level. Read More

   

• Malaysia

  
  Mohd Saharudin Setapa

  The Green Putrajaya, mobile app created to promote sustainability by educating the local community on proper waste management, providing a clean and safe environment, and promoting sustainable living. The app offers multiple features, including a locating map for recycling centers, a scheduling and management system for bin collection, an e-commerce platform for selling and trading recycled materials, and educational games and videos. Read More
  
   

   

• Netherland

  
  Marloeke Werst

  Game app coupled with e-learning modules, to increase CO2 awareness and reduction potential in the logistics industry, targeting SMEs' management, planners, administrators, and students, by providing easy access to existing Carbon Footprinting knowledge and CO2 reduction strategies. Read More
  

• Türkiye

  
  Nilufer Gunay

  "Always New" project aims to promote sustainable fashion in an all-female vocational high school. The project focused on repurposing old garments, extending their lifespan, and reducing textile waste. The project also included seminars for educators and collaboration with vocational organisations to share knowledge and passion for sustainable fashion practices. Read More
  
   

   

• Türkiye

  
  Kübra Ünsal

  The Distance Learning Gate is a project that revolutionise training and skills development of public civil servants in Türkiye. Launched in 2020, this digital platform empowers civil servants to tailor their professional development with courses spanning from Computing and Data Science to Environment and Energy, delivered online. With over 900,000 participants, the project has not only saved 265,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions but also elevated environmental awareness among public employees. Read More
   

   

First introduced in 2021, the Green Skills Award is a global initiative that provides ideas and inspiration from all over the world about green skills development happening thanks to individuals and institutions. This initiative has become a source of good practices that can inspire people everywhere to make real change happen in creating circular and carbon-neutral economies and societies.

Last month, the European Training Foundation's (ETF) Network for Excellence (ENE) and its green partnership GRETA organised a joint meeting with the Danube Region Platform of Centres of Vocational Excellence. The key themes of the meeting were the role of centres of vocational excellence (CoVEs) in providing skills for the green transition and the greening of the energy and construction sectors.

The platform was launched in 2021 by Priority Area 9 of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region in cooperation with ENE. The strategy brings together 14 countries in radically different stages of economic development and membership status (nine EU Member States, three candidate countries and two countries of the European Neighbourhood), namely: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

ENE supports exemplary training through over 300 CoVEs from more than 40 countries. Some 43 CoVEs have already been founded in the Danube Region.

In their keynote speeches, Tim Van Rie, from the European Commission's Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion department, outlined the steep challenges of the energy crisis since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Fanny Gruböck, Head of Corporate Sustainability at PORR, described in detail the greening of the construction industry and the skills requirements in the coming decades.

During the ensuing round-table discussion, Wolfgang Kern (from Austria's Ministry of Education, Science and Research), Marina Papović (from South Eastern Europe's Education Reform Initiative), Iryna Shumik (from Ukraine's Ministry of Education and Science), Lilia Zestrea (from Moldova's Centre of Excellence in Construction) and the ETF's Susanne M. Nielsen discussed how to nurture the green transition in the construction and energy sectors.

The urgency of the situation was apparent to all. The EU is committed to a binding renewable energy target of 42.5% by 2030, and the construction sector is a major contributor to the climate emergency. Buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption, and 36% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU.

Nielsen, who heads up the ETF's GRETA initiative (Greening Responses to Excellence through Thematic Actions), stressed the importance of a whole system approach to greening, and the need for absolute policy alignment: "skills aligned with construction, construction aligned with obligations from environmental and ecological policies, all working to a strategy that systematises greening". 

"We need technical skills," says Nielsen, "transversal skills (including digital skills), but most of all – something that was mentioned again and again – a green mindset."

The meeting was very much about unpacking the green skills concept: what are the skills needed in these two sectors, what do the statistics say. There were presentations from enterprises, ministries, education centres – all saying: "This is the opportunity and we now have the obligation to deliver these skills."

"Construction is the sector that most grew in Covid times," says the ETF's José Manuel Galvin Arribas, "it's the most polluting sector, throwing so much rubbish into the planet. But at the same time it's now embarking on this magical process because what the schools are doing is magical: formulating new processes for raw materials, finding new ways of producing bricks and paint, completely reformulating the construction process."

"Countries need to regulate or frame what a CoVE is, and what CoVEs can contribute to the whole system. Because CoVEs can impact the whole educational sector, even drive socio-economic redevelopment, help a country's reputation..."

But many at the conference noticed what Galvin Arribas summarises as a kind of disconnect between policy-makers and practitioners:

"It's not that they live in parallel worlds, but almost. They need to connect more to each other."

In the afternoon, delegates from Austria, North Macedonia and Romania discussed key developments in the greening of skills. Carmen Mușat, from Romania's National Centre for TVET Development, described the process of creating a compendium of best practice for the green transition involving the collaboration of teachers, representatives of employers and national experts.

The conference was also an eye-opener for ministries to see where their systems are falling short.

"The vocational education and training (VET) system is part of the problem," says Nielsen, "because it's too slow in delivering these skills when we look at the speed required."

It's a point reinforced by Galvin Arribas whose presentation described how only 57% of CoVEs provide programmes addressing green skills for adult learners, and only three out of five have implemented a strategy for green transformation.

Nielsen suggests that the situation could be improved if there were more autonomy:

"Occupational standards are recognised at a national level but for new competences to find their way into the system is not easy. It's almost as if we need 'micro-credentials', a small VET programme that is much more flexible to provide these green skills and competences."

The ETF's Gordon Purvis agrees:

"Organisations need to think in terms of agility and being nimble."

With technological innovations happening so rapidly it's vital that educational centres' curricula are able to adapt swiftly and keep pace with change.

The wider context of the Danube Region Platform is the convergence of countries which are, economically and industrially, very different.

"There is an informal sense of a geographical area that can be developed, that shares trade routes and cultural routes. That's part of the macro-regional strategy," says Purvis.

"The Danube Region also has an importance in terms of accession. Just last week the Ukrainian authorities formally started the accession process, the 'screening' in Brussels. These are things that are happening in the background."

The fact that four Ukrainian delegates travelled 22 hours from a war-torn country bears witness to their commitment to convergence.

"On a macro-level," says Purvis, "the Danube Region gives us a base of international cooperation. There are enlargement partners – not just Ukraine, but Moldova and the West Balkan six – and a good sense of outlining achievements in discussions: 'This is where we are, what we've done so far.'"

It was the first time that the Danube conference was held in person after two previous online events due to Covid.

"It was a win-win," says Galvin Arribas. "The delegates benefited from the expertise we deliver and the partnerships we mobilise. And for us, it offered more experience about how to run policy discussions regarding excellence with target people and gain an extra buy-in from policy officials and practitioners."

Attended by hundreds of representatives, "The European Year of Skills – What comes next?" conference held on 30 April was the opportunity to share skills stories and discuss the legacy of the past 365 days.

“Today, having the courage to step out of comfort zones is more important than ever before: the economy is changing, and this is nothing new, but now it goes faster and faster,” said the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President, Margaret Vestager, in her opening speech. 

EU agencies to drive the future of skills development

Representatives from the European Training Foundation (ETF) and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) marked the conclusion of the European Year of Skills by putting the spotlight on the role of skills development in navigating the green and digital transitions.

"Through collaborative efforts, we can address skills shortages and ensure that all regions, including our neighbouring ones, are equipped for the future," remarked Juergen Siebel, Director of Cedefop.

"Collaboration is key to addressing the challenges we face in skills development across Europe and its neighbouring regions," added the ETF’s Head of Skills Identification and Development Unit, Manuela Prina. "By working together, we can ensure that no one is left behind in the transition to a greener, more digital economy."

Looking ahead towards a “century of skills”

Prina and Siebel took the floor at a session dedicated to EU agencies. Siebel emphasised the collaborative efforts between Cedefop and the ETF in conducting the European Skills and Jobs Survey, stating:

"Those who require more training are often those who have less access to education and training . This is a lost opportunity for Europe."

This highlights a critical challenge that must be addressed to ensure that equality and skill development opportunities grow in parallel.

Prina echoed Siebel's sentiments, stressing the need for a new narrative in addressing skills shortages, particularly in the context of the green and digital transitions. She emphasised the importance of not merely transferring problems to neighbouring regions but rather promoting cooperation for mutual benefit.

"We need to support a win-win-win narrative, both for the EU and its neighbouring regions, but mostly a win for individuals," she stated, putting the spotlight on the role of the EU social pillar in achieving this goal.

Siebel emphasised how the European Year of Skills has helped bring to light how skills work as glue for society and are at the core of growth for people and businesses. Prina underscored the connection between peace and investment in talent, calling for greater collaboration with countries like Ukraine. She expressed her hope for peace in the region and talked about how investing in skills can be a pathway to stability and prosperity. Looking ahead, Prina forecasted a "global century of skills" and urged for increased representation of voices in EU discussions, citing consultations with over 300 stakeholders as a step in this direction.

Siebel doubled down and challenged all parties to be even more ambitious and make life learning the default setting of the next century, investing in skills for competitiveness, growth and inclusion in Europe and beyond.

The contributions from both the ETF and Cedefop highlighted the importance of skills development in supporting the transition to a decarbonised and digital economy.

ETF: Capturing the voices of EU neighbours about skills

The ETF's initiatives, such as the #MySkills4You initiative with Young European Ambassadors and EU Jeel Connectors, demonstrated a commitment to engaging with stakeholders across Europe and its neighbouring regions to generate innovative ideas and amplify the voices of young people. The collaboration with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations showcased a concerted effort to address skills challenges beyond EU borders.

A series of ideathons, interactive events designed to capture the voice of all educational stakeholders from EU neighbouring countries, have generated innovative ideas as to how learners can gain skills for the evolving digital and green landscape. The key recommendations will pave the way for ETF work ahead, guiding the collaborative efforts with partners beyond the European Year of Skills.

Cedefop: Distilling skills intelligence for skills development

As part of the European Year of Skills, Cedefop has produced a series of research and policy analyses on skills in Europe to support countries and policy makers in designing policies that reflect EU skills needs and potentials. Such intelligence is readily available in a series of online data and visualisation tools such as Skills-OVATE, Skills intelligence, Skills Forecast, and Matching Skills.

In addition, Cedefop is driving research on skills needs and opportunities to support the green and digital transition.

Concluding with the words of the European Commissions’ Executive Vice-President, Margaret Vestager:

“The end of the European Year of Skills is more of a beginning – a beginning with a renewed focus, enthusiasm, and obligation to take action.”