Greening VET curricula for electricians

<< Background >>In order to realise the green economy, VET systems are expected to develop a workforce that has the ability and skills needed to support the running of this economic system. The incorporation of green skills into VET programmes is needed in order to develop employees with sustainability habits off and on the job. In order to offer a solution to the identified need for curriculum updates by integrating contemporary and future green skills for VET learners, the ENTIRE project developed a green skills anticipation and incorporation procedure, the primary project result, which is implemented by VET providers at grass root level. With the second project result, a Training Programme for electrical engineering VET teachers, the ENTIRE partnership addresses the growing need to ensure vocational teachers have the necessary competencies to fulfill the requirement of the green transition and facilitate the process of raising awareness about climate change of VET learners and ultimately prepare them for the opportunities of the green economy. << Objectives >>The ENTIRE project’s general objective is to equip VET learners with the right green skills and thus enable them to be competent and able to contribute to energy efficiency and environmental preservation in the long term. In order to achieve its main goal, the ENTIRE partnership designed tools that offer continuous support to VET providers in their role of adapting their training to changing green skills needs and thus contribute to the goals of the European Green Deal. The two main project outputs, the Methodological guidance document and the Training programme for electrical engineering VET teachers, to a large extent support the modernisation of VET training content. To be able to successfully integrate green skills in the electrician vocation and be able to ensure regular skilling and up-skilling, the partnership elaborated a tailor-made methodological guidance document for vocational schools and companies involved in curricula design. Furthermore, the team also supports the professional development of electrical engineering VET teachers in green skills development. << Implementation >>In order to achieve the ENTIRE objectives and deliver initially planned project outputs to the highest possible quality, the project team implemented several sets of activities which were structured into four logically designed delivery phases. These include both project management activities as well as the ones dedicated to the elaboration of the two initially foreseen project results. The activities, which do not differ from those foreseen in the application form as approved by the external assessors, carried out were the following:1. Project Steering. This phase ran through the entire project lifecycle. For the delivery of this activity, the coordinator elaborated several instruments to ensure effective project coordination. Such instruments include: Project Management Strategy, a Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy and a Risk Management Strategy.2. Elaboration of the Methodological Guidelines for green skills integration in VET curricula project result. This activity was directly related to the design of draft, testing and finalising the primary project result. The elaboration process started from the very beginning of the project, and lasted until October 2022, according to the approved GANTT chart. The delivery of the first project result was coordinated by the Modern Education Foundation. The end result, freely available on the project website (https://entire.moderneducationfoundation.eu/) is a green skills anticipation and integration into existing VET curricula procedure which is already being applied by VET providers at grass root level. Under this phase, the team engaged in the design of the output, its testing in the form of local workshops with VET teachers and business representatives (these workshops were documented and the roadmap for integration in each country finalised) and finalisation of the output based on the testing workshop. 3. Elaboration of the Training Programme for electrical engineering VET teachers. The elaboration of the secondary project result started following the successful finalisation of the methodological guidance document, which was officially concluded by the partnership during the transnational project meeting in Vienna, Austria, hosted by the BEST organisation on the 11th of November 2022. The design of the training programme was led by the BEST Institute partner organisation and last as preliminarily scheduled from December 2022 till July 2023. The training programme includes both horizontal as well as occupation-specific green skills modules and techniques for their integration in the teaching process. The team started by drafting the framework of the training programme and analysing good practice examples as well as teaching techniques which are to be included in the document. Once the draft was ready, pilot training workshops were organised in each partner country with VET teachers as participants. Feedback was gathered in the form of evaluation surveys, both prior and after the training in order to evaluate the level of enhanced understanding about the topics covered by the training programme. Once piloting reports were submitted, a final review of the document was carried out and it was finalised for general dissemination. 4. Dissemination and Exploitation. This activity basically ensures both project results reach the relevant target groups and wider audience. It was coordinated by the Modern Education Foundation. The leading organisation elaborated a Dissemination and Exploitation Strategy. This activity lasted during the entire project duration and it even continues after the project’s end. Activities include internal dissemination, through partner internal channels. Dissemination through partner websites, social media (wherever applicable), dedicated project website, social media. Multiplier event. These are thoroughly elaborated in the respective section of the final report form. << Results >>The ENTIRE partnership developed tangible, the two main project outputs, as well as intangible results. The two main tangible project results are freely available electronically in English and the national languages of each partner organisation not only on the dedicated project website but also on the national library depository since these were issued an ISBN. The two project results are the following:1.Methodological Guidelines for green skills integration in VET curricula. The first project result supports grass root anticipation and matching of relevant green skills for the electrician vocation. For the purpose of the project, grass root intervention is the cooperation between individual companies with VET schools/centres at local level, hense the testing workshops carried out at local level. In the participating countries, in line with national context, individual training providers have certain autonomy to adjust the VET curricula to better address local/regional needs. Nevertheless, incorporating relevant green skills into the already existing VET programme for electricians and at the same time outlining the future needs for green skills required a comprehensive approach. The guidance document outlines a detailed participatory approach procedure for green skills anticipation and matching and a roadmap for integration of identified green skills in each of the participating countries. This project result is directly aimed at VET providers, schools/centres and companies, involved in curricula design and adaptation. 2. Training Programme for electrical engineering VET teachers. The second project result is directly aimed at the upskilling of VET teachers in the electrical engineering and energy sectors to deliver skills for sustainability. The partnership proposed such a training programme because the competence of the target VET teachers inevitably affects the attainment level among VET students directly. The envisaged training programme allows VET teachers to upgrade their expertise related to climate change and to build capacity and confidence of teachers in teaching the right green skills to the VET learners. VET teachers in the electrical engineering and energy domain are responsible to introduce VET learners of the electrician vocation to contemporary green practices, to instill awareness about the impact of climate change and to promote energy efficiency practices at the workplace and in life.Both project results are available freely on the ENTIRE website (https://entire.moderneducationfoundation.eu/) in English and the languages of all partner organisations. In addition to the two main project deliverables, we also elaborated project management tools which facilitated the execution of project activities:-ENTIRE website which serves as a platform to share information and results about the project.-Project Management Strategy.-Risk Management Strategy.-Dissemination and Exploitation Strategy.