Project Activities

Intellectual Output 1
GreenEntreComp Framework

The European Green Deal resets the European Commission’s commitment to tackling climate and environmental-related challenges that is this generation’s defining task. The
atmosphere is warming and the climate is changing with each passing year. One million of the eight million species on the planet are at risk of being lost. Forests and oceans are being
polluted and destroyed. The European Green Deal is a response to these challenges. It is a new growth strategy that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society, with
a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use. It
also aims to protect, conserve and enhance the EU’s natural capital, and protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and impacts. At the same time,
this transition must be just and inclusive. It must put people first, and pay attention to the regions, industries and workers who will face the greatest challenges.
As entrepreneurship is a key driver of economic development in Europe it is essential that VET providers have an appropriate benchmark for developing their entrepreneurial training
that takes into consideration the green objectives that now dominate the political landscape in Europe. The EntreComp framework with its 3 interrelated and interconnected
competence areas: ‘Ideas and opportunities’, ‘Resources’ and ‘Into action’ acts as the current ‘de-facto’ guide for the development of entrepreneurship training. Revising this framework to ensure that a green perspective is provided for future entrepreneurship training development is not only pertinent but essential.
In addition to greening existing competences and learning outcomes, partners will consider whether additional competence areas and learning outcomes need to be added.
The GreenEntreComp will be addressed to VET tutors and all those involved in supporting the development of entrepreneurial activity. GreenEntreComp will be relevant to tutors
working in iVET and cVET scenarios and will therefore have a broad potential impact and transferability. Besides any pedagogic impact, encouraging new entrepreneurs to green their
product or service from the beginning can achieve significant impact for business, for the environment and for individuals throughout society. the Green-4-Future project promotes
green entrepreneurship for the future sustainability of society, economy and environment and it a truly innovative undertaking at all levels.

Intellectual Output 2
Business Modelling for Circular Economy Businesses

The shift to a circular economy requires innovative business models that either replace existing ones or seize new opportunities. Companies with significant market share and
capabilities along several vertical steps of the linear value chain could play a major role in circular economy innovation and driving circularity into the mainstream by leveraging their
scale and vertical integration. While many new models, materials, and products will come from new emerging circular economy entrepreneurs and can also play a critical role in
achieving a more sustainable economic model. Promoting and mainstreaming profitable circular economy business models and initiatives will inspire other players and will have
considerable potential to be copied and expanded geographically. For widespread reuse of materials and higher resource productivity to become commonplace, market mechanisms
will need to play a dominant role, supported by policy makers, educational institutions and popular opinion leaders. Green-4-Future has a singular focus on VET provision and gearing up vocational training to meet the new demands of a climate-change-conscious consumer. Developing appropriate training resources that address common circular economy business
modelling strategies is or profound benefit to ensure the relevance of iVET and cVET to the business environment. Green-4-Future has chosen 3 widely acknowledged circular economy business modelling strategies and will develop a suite of learning resources for each one to support the activities of VET providers. The selected business modelling strategies are:

  1. The Co-creation of Products/Services model brings end-users closer to the design and manufacturing phases by identifying consumer preferences via Big-data online mining
    product reviews and evaluating product specifications and prototypes via Living Lab to customise the end-user requirements. Benefited from the co-creation features, sets of
    sustainable production methods will be implemented and new products/services will be created.
  2. The Sustainable Consumption model develops a method to calculate the eco-points of products, assess product environment footprints (PEF), provide a traceability solution to
    monitor product’s sustainability along the value chain, and support end-users and stakeholders to actively implement the circular economy via awareness raising and knowledge sharing activities.
  3. The Collaborative Recycling/Reuse model develops a system for stakeholders to interact with each other to facilitate the use/reuse of end-of-life products and reduce waste, and
    implement the eco-credits awarding scheme to encourage people to recycle/reuse.

Building circular economy business modelling training resources to support entrepreneurs represents a significant innovation especially when accompanied by the GreenEntreComp
framework. Green business modelling is going to become an important element of business development in the future especially in the light of actions outlined in the European Green
Deal. the relevance and impact of these resources is likely to sustain for a significant period.
Partners will work in teams of 3 to develop a suite of business modelling training resources that address each of the models identified as follows:

– The Co-creation of Products/Services Model – SRC; BFI Burgenland and UPIT;
– The Sustainable Consumption Model – CALLIDUS; UoP and CARDET;
– The Collaborative Recycling/Reuse Model – BFU; UPB and ISQ.

Intellectual Output 3
In-service Training for VET Tutors

With global warming, climate change, environmental and ecological destruction at the forefront of the political agenda the Circular Economy and Zero Waste movement has gained considerable traction. The European Green Deal sets out ambitious targets for the next generations and will undoubtedly be underpinned by a wide range of climate change sensitive measures that will considerably alter the economic, social and environmental models that currently pertain. iVET and cVET providers will have a significant role to play in supporting the new green objectives of all EU Member States. VET tutors will be the key front-line staff tasked with implementing essential training programmes to support a more sustainable economic model. The are one of the key multipliers when any significant change in policy occurs as they are the main stalwarts for training in the business sector. Supporting their continuous professional development through topic specific in-service training is the first essential non-regulatory step to reforming business practice throughout the economy. The greening of the economy will only succeed if measures are implemented to support the greening of VET.
By developing the new GreenEntreComp and designing business modelling resources for circular economy businesses the Green-4-Future project proposes two significant
innovations that will directly impact the provision of VET. Supporting these new innovations with bespoke in-service training for VET tutors is both practical and logical. VET tutors
cannot be expected to substantially change their prevailing entrepreneurship training approaches without in-service training support. It is in this context that this Green-4-Future inservice training programme is being developed.
Partners will develop a bespoke in-service training programme to support the continuous professional development of VET tutors to ensure that they are fully committed to the concept of green entrepreneurship and suitably trained to support the business modelling activities of circular economy business. The in-service training programme will be jointly developed by UPIT, UPB, CALLIDUS and ISQ in two phases and tested by all partners. The first phase will focus on in-service training to familiarise tutors with the new GreenEntreComp Framework. This phase will be developed by UPIT and CALLIDUS. All partners will test the resources developed with their local stakeholder forum and provide feedback to the lead partners. The second phase will address the business modelling for circular economy businesses and the Green-4-Future MOOC and will be developed by UPB and ISQ. Each phase of the in-service training will comprise 35 hours of learning – 21 hours of face-to-face instruction, workshops and discussion and 14 hours of self-directed learning. Piloting of the inservice programme will take place over 6 days at two 3 day Transnational Training Events in Germany. As the topics that the in-service training will address are genuinely innovative, so it can extrapolated that the in-service training itself represents an innovation. As demands for a more sustainable economic model are here to stay the impact of this in-service training will continue to be felt long after the project has ended. The Green-4-Future project will develop outputs that have a long shelf-life and that are ultimately transferable to all EU Member States. Achieving climate change is the responsibility of all citizens in Europe and the impact and transferability of this piloted and validated in-service programme is guaranteed.

Intellectual Output 4
Green-4-Future MOOC

Partners will discuss the two main perspectives on MOOC design and presentation xMOOC and cMOOC. xMOOC adopts a cognitivs-behaviorist lecture and knowledge dissemination
pedagogical approach similar to that of traditional face-to-face instruction. cMOOC follows a more constructivist learning approach, where knowledge is found in connections between
people, and learning is the development and traversal of those connections. Given the range of content that is being proposed for the Green-4-Future MOOC is it likely that the
cMOOC model will be most appropriate.
The proposed Green-4-Future MOOC will provide access to the GreenEntreComp, Business Modelling for Circular Economy Businesses training resources and the In-service Training
programme and will have all the features associated with best-practice in MOOC design and development. Learning content presented will be under-pinned by clear learning objectives
to be achieved by those who complete any element of the learning resources provided within a given period of time. Each individual learning resource will have a beginning and an
end. Each piece of learning material will contain some exercises or assignments that have to be completed as a skills demonstration to assess the knowledge acquired by learners.
The social media features incorporated will support interaction between learners through discussions and forums. Each intellectual output presented will be introduced by a short video lecture/explainer video.
Although the term open in the context of a MOOC has different meanings the Green-4-Future MOOC will adhere to the ‘massively-open’ principle and will not require prerequisites such as prior learning or possession of a qualification. Access to the educational resources will be free and the content generated by the Green-4-Future consortium will be published as open educational resources so they can be reused by others. The learning materials developed will thus be available for access remotely via the Internet and will not require physical attendance at a classroom. This will ensure that anyone from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection, can immediately engage with the learning resources developed. The Green-4-Future MOOC will allow access to a very large number of learners and will be scalable and capable of supporting a large number of end users.
The Green-4-Future MOOC will be fully branded with the project identity and will always acknowledge the funding support from the Erasmus+ Programme. Learning resources will be available in all partner languages.