SDG NAVIGATOR: Empowering changemakers towards sustainability

<< Background >>We initiated this project due to the fact that sustainability has emerged as a strategic priority of the EU and is an urgent global challenge necessitating organizational and individual response. While policy initiatives like the European Green Deal and Agenda 2030 have been developed to tackle sustainability problems, we have recognized a substantial shortage of VET services that are customized to individual changemakers' skills, both in Lithuania as well as in our partner countries.The project dealt with the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes for entrepreneurship driven by sustainability. It provided the necessary competencies for people (more specifically VET educators, students, entrepreneurs and other target groups) to act upon climate change and other critical priorities of sustainable development while adapting VET to labor market demands. Underpinning the attractiveness of VET, bridging relevant gaps between education and businesses, and capacity building for action toward local and global sustainability goals, the project developed innovative and learner-centered resources: the Sustainability Changemakers Competences Dictionary, the Sustainability Navigator Learning Path and the SDG Navigator Hub and Toolbox<< Objectives >>The main focus was the establishment of individuals as agents of change for sustainability through enriching social and eco-entrepreneurial mindset and skills by innovative VET and by developing three key outputs:1. The Sustainability Changemaker Competences Dictionary has identified in-depth and described the competencies that were needed to be developed to sustainability-driven entrepreneurship in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes.2. The Sustainability Learning Path provides customized learning resources and changemaking tools to enhance entrepreneurial competencies for sustainable entrepreneurship, guiding the process of starting up and scaling sustainable initiatives.3. The SDG Navigator Hub and Toolbox represents an open online platform offering a variety of learning resources and pathways of exploration on sustainability entrepreneurship, enabling personalized and action-oriented learning approaches.Within these intellectual outputs, capabilities were built to act on climate change and critical priorities of sustainable development. << Implementation >>The project aimed at empowering VET providers with the necessary competencies in sustainable entrepreneurship to provide support to the Green enterprises. Core activities included the development of the Sustainability Changemaker Competences Dictionary, identification of key competencies for sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship; development of the Sustainability Learning Pathway, innovative, learner-centered resources based on storytelling, design thinking, and playful methods; and the design of the SDG Navigator Digital Hub and Toolbox, an online open-access platform with interactive, gamified learning tools. Relevance was ensured through consultation with stakeholders, community consultations, focus groups, and feedback sessions, while in-country dissemination campaigns (such as national outreaching forums) raised awareness of the project's tools, including social networking. Continuous monitoring and evaluation integrated feedback for the improvement of practice in line with the objectives. This empowered VET educators, as well as other target groups to act as changemakers of sustainability and enabled the alignment of VET with modern labor market needs.<< Results >>Outputs included the Sustainability Changemaker Competences Dictionary, which identified the key knowledge, skills, and attitudes for sustainability-driven entrepreneurship, the Sustainability Navigator Learning Path provided tailored resources that guide the development of sustainability-oriented entrepreneurial competences in diverse phases of the entrepreneurship process, and the SDG Navigator Hub and Toolbox, which is an open online platform with digital learning resources, gamified tools, and interactive content for action-oriented and scalable learning.The project also supported innovative methodologies comprising storytelling, design thinking, and play-based learning. In addition, the project enhanced partnership building among educational institutions, businesses, and communities through stakeholder engagement. Workshops and campaigns were held to raise awareness about the SDGs and to enhance the capacity of VET educators to act as sustainability changemakers.Besides that, the project helped to adapt VET to labor market needs by establishing future-oriented content, reinforcing sustainability skills, and raising its attractiveness. Wide dissemination made open-access resources useful in the long term.