SUSTAIN-EU
Title: SUSTAIN-EU: European Sustainability Expert
Acronym: SUSTAIN-EU
Project type: KA220-VET - Cooperation partnerships in vocational education and training
Ref. no.: to be communicated…
Promoter /Coordinator: Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, Portugal
Duration: 24 months (Dec. 2024 – Nov. 2026)
Total project grant: 250000 EUR
Total expenditure (grant) for the Group for European Integration (GIE): 35600 EUR
Local coordinator for the Group for European Integration (GIE): Dr. Georgeta CHIRLEȘAN
Summary:
As climate change continues to accelerate, businesses of all sizes are focusing on sustainability strategies. To do this, they are looking for and hiring sustainability officers. According to the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2023, businesses expect Sustainability Specialists to be the second fastest growing job worldwide, behind AI and Machine Learning Specialists.
Essentially, a sustainability officer is a specialist member of a team that focuses on sustainability in order to create and implement sustainability practices within the organisation and drive sustainability-focused changes. This position also offers accountability and structure, which helps drive organisations’ environmental efforts.
According to research by MIT, 90% of executives say sustainability is important, but only 60% of companies incorporate sustainability in their strategy, and just 25% have sustainability incorporated in their business model.
Under the Erasmus+ programme, the project partners are proposing SUSTAIN-EU, a new project to design and develop the European Sustainability Expert curriculum and qualification under the VET call in order to empower individuals with the expertise and capabilities to lead transformative change within companies and organisations towards a more sustainable and resilient future.
Grounded in principles of environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic prosperity, the SUSTAIN-EU project will play a vital role in addressing EU skills shortages and building a skilled workforce capable of driving sustainable growth and development in line with the objectives of the EU Green Deal and the European Skills Agenda. Outside of Higher Education, access to high-quality and industry-focussed training to upskill or reskill as a Sustainability Expert is limited and often prohibitive in terms of cost, access and duration.
Recognising this gap, the SUSTAIN-EU project will introduce the European Sustainability Expert (ESE) course, fully online with open access to all professionals, learners, and jobseekers that wish to qualify as a Sustainability Expert in order to take up new job opportunities and pursue career advancements within the European labour market. The consortium believes this proposal offers forward-looking project results that are practice- and evidence-informed; address the needs identified within the labour market, represent excellent value for money in terms of the expertise assembled as part of the project team; innovative in nature and therefore addressing the selected priority of the call, and offers transferability to other countries and educational domains, and therefore worthy of funding consideration.
Aim/Objectives:
The overarching aim of the SUSTAIN-EU project is to facilitate access to high-quality, future-oriented upskilling and reskilling opportunities for individuals (employees, learners, professionals and jobseekers) enabling them to qualify as Sustainability Experts. The SUSTAIN-EU project is developing a new VET curriculum and qualification, that builds on the latest green skills intelligence, that is highly compatible and adaptable to the changing skills needs powered by the green and digital transitions.
The SUSTAIN-EU’s specific objectives are to:
- Contribute to the harmonisation, at European level, of the skills of the Sustainability Expert profession;
- Establish a new qualification and curriculum using the ESCO classifications;
- Design and develop an eLearning course at EQF Level 5 that aligns to the VET and HE standards in the partner countries, in order to achieve mainstreaming and curriculum integration;
- Invest in continuous professional development of VET educators and trainers so that they can fully exploit and leverage the SUSTAIN-EU training package within their VET institutions or within their teaching practice.
Work Packages & Activities:
WP1. Project Management
WP2. European Sustainability Expert Competence Profile and Curriculum
WP3. European Sustainability Expert Course
WP4. SUSTAIN-EU CPD programme for VET professionals
WP5. Dissemination and Sustainability
The SUSTAIN-EU partners will undertake the following activities:
- Conduct a TNA process with 120 VET educators in the partner countries
- Develop CPD programme for VET Professionals
- Create a new Competence Profile for a European Sustainability Expert and comprehensive new ESE eLearning course to qualify individuals in this highly sought-after skillset
- Host 12 VET trainers at a transnational training event in Austria
- Ensure the dissemination and exploitation of project results
Outcomes:
The SUSTAIN-EU Project Partners will produce the following 3 innovative results for vocational education and training in Europe:
- The European Sustainability Expert Curriculum with the ESE Professional Profile and Competence Matrix at EQF Level 5
- The European Sustainability Expert eLearning course with intelligent tutoring and Certificates of Competence
- The SUSTAIN-EU CPD programme for VET professionals building an understanding of green economy and emergent labour market requirements
Project partners:
- Instituto de Soldadura e Qualidade, Portugal (coordinator)
- Spectrum Research Centre CLG, Ireland
- Grupul pentru Integrare Europeană, Romania
- Berufsförderungsinstitut Burgenland, Austria
- CONFIMI Industria Basilicata - Associazione dell'Industria Manifatturiera e dell'impresa privata di Basilicata, Italy
- Universitaet Paderborn, Germany
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