Fostering sustainable education in VET community

<< Background >>The application for this project comes from a void felt in our organisation. Sustainability is a pillar of our Educational Project, but we realise that the teaching staff have few resources at their disposal in this area and that, from a methodological and didactic point of view, there was a lack of guidance. The teachers' basic training is in the field of the modules they teach. They are therefore trained to teach strictly the subject for which they are responsible. As a result, sustainability ends up being what we could call lateral content. Therefore, creating and providing tools, tips and guidance for teaching sustainability was an aspect that needed to be worked on within the Group. In addition, the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda, fundamental desiderata of the European area, needed a more in-depth and systematic approach. As a public school, the school group has an added responsibility in this regard, which is also why it applied for this project. << Objectives >>The main aim of this project was to equip VET teachers with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes with which they can contribute to sustainable development. Thus, in their practice, they will be able to replicate, expand and disseminate this content in order to sensitise the school population to sustainability practices.Another objective, derived from the previous one, was to provide VET teachers with resources and teaching methods that facilitate the teaching-learning process on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental issues.Finally, following on from the above, the last objective focussed on supporting the environmental training of the educational community by training VET teachers in environmental issues and holding a conference on sustainability practices.<< Implementation >>There were three key activities carried out:1. Creation of a methodological teaching manual on sustainability, based on the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. This manual, intended for use by teachers in the classroom and beyond, has been written in the project's three languages (English, Portuguese and Spanish), published on the website of our partner (Pacto Verde) and publicised within the school group's structures, namely the Microsoft Teams of VET teachers. The Portuguese version of the manual has also been published on the school's website for dissemination to the community.2. Promotion of a training course within both partners. Two training courses were organised for VET teachers at the Valdevez School Grouping. The first was a 25-hour face-to-face course attended by 20 teachers. The second took place entirely online and was attended by 17 people. On the Pacto Verde side, there was online training with 39 participants.3. A conference on education and sustainability aimed at the wider educational community, attended by 52 people. << Results >>The handbook has become an essential tool in several dimensions: in deepening knowledge, concepts and practices of sustainability, based on the SDGs; in promoting dialogic learning, emphasising interaction and collaboration between people as the main way to learn and grow; in adopting work methodologies that promote a broader knowledge of reality and a more global sense of community. Both courses, in addition to the VET teachers, went one step further by bringing two members of the Board of Directors (headmaster and vice-principal) and middle managers (coordinators of projects, curricular departments and Citizenship and Development).On the Pacto Verde side, members of various NGOs and higher education establishments took part in the project's activities.The large number of participants at the conference shows the success of this initiative in promoting knowledge about the meaning and dimensions of sustainable development, taking into account the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda.Participants also learnt how to integrate tools, methods and resources to promote sustainable development in the classroom and in the community.