VALORISTE: Fostering adults volunteering towards sustainable development through circular economy practices

<< Background >>The project was applied for to address the need for fostering sustainable development through circular economy practices and to improve the competences of low-qualified adults/adults from socially vulnerable groups. The needs addressed include: - Supporting the development of circular economy by reintroducing waste back into the economy. - Extending the lifecycle of materials and increasing the recycling rate in the EU. - Filling the gap of occupations in recycling with specific green occupations. - Raising awareness about biodiversity and sustainable development. - Contributing to the European Green Deal and the goal of having 30% of low-qualified adults participating in learning programmes by 2025. - Promoting social inclusion and reducing the impact of low-skilled adults in the EU. << Objectives >>The project aimed to achieve the following objectives: - Improve the competences of low-qualified adults/adults from socially vulnerable groups in strategic subjects for sustainable development. - Boost these adults' volunteering mind-set towards circular economy-related activities (Valoriste). - Contribute to the development of educational and training competences of adult educators, Valoriste Agents, and other practitioners involved in the circular economy. - Raise awareness and implementation of personal and community circular economy practices. << Implementation >>The project implemented the following activities: - Development of digital training resources, including case studies, infographics, vignettes, video-based digital stories, lesson plans, and self-assessment exercises. - National hands-on workshops and blended piloting with the target groups (in average 10 per country, 144 in total). - Transnational meetings for partners' cooperation and management including evaluation and quality management. - Final national forums in each partner country to raise awareness about the project among stakeholders (6 forums, with a total of 210 attendees). << Results >>The concrete outputs and results included: - VALORISTE Training Programme: A curriculum for future VALORISTE volunteers with training modules on sustainable development, circular economy, and volunteering. The Training programme including the infographics is available online but also compiled in a 247pg PDF document. - VALORISTE Toolkit: Training resources to support adult educators, Valoriste Agents, and other practitioners involved in the circular economy. Available online but also compiled in two PDF documents: Hands-on lesson plans (85 pages), and 10 Pedagogical vignettes.- VALORISTE Digital Stories and MOOC: six video-based digital stories of best practices on circular economy and a MOOC providing access to all VALORISTE training content. All the resources are available in 7 different EU languages.An additional result is the enhancement of competencies among low-qualified adults and individuals from socially vulnerable groups, fostering a stronger mind-set toward volunteering. Furthermore, the educational and training capabilities of adult educators and practitioners were significantly improved through their participation in national hands-on workshops (one per country) to test the tools.