BOOSTING THE GREEN FUTURE VIA UNIVERSITY MICRO-CREDENTIALS

<< Background >>Standardization is crucial for environmental sustainability, climate neutrality, and establishing a greener single market. The EU recognizes the need for more intensive integration of standards-related training in higher education to address global challenges like climate change and resource depletion, and the necessity of equipping the workforce with the skills needed for a sustainable future.The B-Green-ED project aimed to contribute to:-environmental sustainability and the fight against climate change by enhancing HE institutions' responsiveness to the evolving needs of the Green Single Market and industry by providing an innovative methodology for developing and implementing high-quality university digital micro-credentials focused on training in sector/industry-specific sustainable management, environmental, and green standards-introducing the developed micro-credentials into institutional ecosystems of partner universities to ensure the provision of shorter, flexible, targeted and accessible ways to upskill and reskill individuals to address their personal and professional challenges related to digital and green transformations and the current and future demands of the sustainable economy.<< Objectives >>The B-Green-ED project sought to contribute to the European Green Deal, Digital Education Action Plan and New Skills Agenda for Europe by fostering innovative higher education(HE) practices that introduced micro-credentials (MCCs) focused on standards-related training into HE institutional ecosystems.Provision of standards-related OERs created by national standard bodies(NSB) involved and university MCCs co-created by qualified faculty and NSB experts, informed by the needs assessment and target groups (TG) analysis at national and international level as a guarantee for high-quality and relevance to the common upskilling areas identified.Provision of a tailored e-platform for MCCs’ delivery as flexible, learner-centric, accessible, market-sensitive learning paths based on modern pedagogy, for upskilling TG in green and environmental standards to deal with current and future challenges of digital and green transitions. B-Green-ED MCCs validation involving TGs in all partner countries and their improvement based on feedback analysis- Including MCCs in partner universities' course catalogues to bridge the gap between initial qualifications and the evolving sustainable economy.demands B-Green-ED e-Catalog of HEIs validated MCCs<< Implementation >>PAs signing, forming working teams for project management, quality assurance, dissemination, MCCs development and exploitationCreating a project work plan, quality assurance plan, dissemination and exploitation planCreating digital collaboration space and communication channels for information sharing and exchange. Creating a project website, social media profiles, newsletters, informative materialsOrganizing plenary and virtual project meetings and events with TGCreating a Stakeholder database for regular communicationNational and international analyses identify priority areas for the green transition and assess the needs and readiness to deliver HE MCCs on green and environmental standardsNational and international research among TG to detect their green standards skill gaps and their preferences for MCCs' digital deliverySelecting green standards suitable for MCCs' creatingCreating, reviewing, and approving standards-related OERs for MCCs Creating MCCs' curricula and their HEIs approvalE-platform Internal testing and approval, and upload of OERs and MCCsMCCs' pilot testing with TGs (lecturers and students) in all countries, feedback collecting and analysisMCCs improving and universities' uptake, e-Catalog creation<< Results >>Analysis of the need for green standards training in HE, existing MCCs regulations, and priority areas for MCCs conducted in all partner countries (BG/ES/LT/RO) and documented in National ReportsIdentifying common trends and challenges in green standards training via university MCCs informed by comparative analysis of reported national-level data and preparing an International ReportNational-level analysis to detect green skill gaps of target groups (TG), i.e. students and faculty, in related standards and their preferences for digital MCCs delivery and National Reports provisionOutlining the common needs and priorities of TG based on a comparative analysis and synthesis of national-level data in an International ReportList of recommended by national standard bodies (NSB) standards for MCCs creation 46 Open Educational Resources(OERs) for selected standards created by NSB12 university MCCs using adapted OERs to address the skill gaps created by the project teamTailored e-platform for OERs and MCCs delivery to the TGMCCs validated involving TG and improved based on feedback collected nationally and internationally Introducing validated MCCs into partner universities' course cataloguesB-Green-ED e-Catalog of validated MCC