Circle VET ProjectCircular Economy – we all care about it, collectively and individually, but somehow, we have so far remained apart. This is one of the main lessons we have learned during the CircleVET project. While countries like Finland are ahead in integrating circular economy in their vocational education (VET), others, like Germany, are catching up and still others, such as Turkey, seem to be lagging behind. However, all over Europe, new ideas are emerging on how to integrate the circular economy into vocational education. Their practical implementation is a European topic, and this is precisely what CircleVET has focused on.All participants of the project have become more aware of the need to use circular economy skills in their work. They are ready to share their newly gained knowledge, to teach and encourage others to understand the ongoing transition towards circular economy and its potential. The trained facilitators have acquired new tools for training and teaching circular economy in VET. The partners went through different processes, learnt a lot from each other and improved the knowledge and skills of their staff.E-bookThe compendium was produced as a result of the Circle VET project. It is a comprehensive compendium of hands-on methods used across Europe. This manual provides easy-to-apply innovative tools and methods designed to motivate learners to stay involved and update their skills for the ongoing transition from a linear to a circular economy.Evaluation of good practisesCircleVET has developed an assessment grid for practices based on the following four principles:• interdisciplinary approaches;• real-life relevance and applicability;• critical Thinking (rethinking) of the current status;• flexibility and versatility.After identifying and evaluating smart practices in teaching and applying circular economy principles, we came to the conclusion that our foremost task should be to focus on determining methods that provide an introduction into and a general overview of the possibilities to teach the basics of circular economy.At the same time, our visits to various organisations and businesses have demonstrated that good practices exist in all partner countries, even though they are often not yet being identified and labelled as “circular”. During several transnational meetings, we have presented more than 70 smart practices, not only from Finland, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey but also from Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.During the second meeting in Madrid, we established an assessment grid – a tool which was very helpful for selecting practices that are among the smartest. Those presented in this e-book are in our opinion the most interesting, representative, useful and transferable ones.3 online labsAll practices, methods and experiences collected were tested and reviewed in three thematic training labs:Testing circular methods for co-working and innovation hubs: general and business oriented methodsTesting circular methods in FashionTesting circular methods in RecyclingThe design of the training labs was based on David Kolb’s experiential learning theory, represented by a four-stage cycle: concrete experience, reflective observation of the new experience, abstract reflection, and active experimentation.The three labs consisted of practical activities during which a diverse group of peers shared their experience and explored potential solutions with the aim of co-discovery, that is exploration in a collaborative setting.Not offline but online...Initially, we had planned to meet physically for these labs, but the onset of the Covid19 pandemic and the restrictions on travelling and meeting during the last part of the project made this impossible. Thanks to the German National Agency we were able to move the labs online.Policy recommendationThe detailed discussion of the selected practices has allowed us to work out recommendations on where and how to use them. Based on the lessons learned while testing these methods in our labs, we have decided to target the recommendations at practitioners and decision-makers.On the local level, our project has resulted in an increasing awareness of the importance of the circular economy and of the potential of using local dissemination circuits, especially in the fashion and recycling sectors.We wanted to contribute to European discourses on teaching and learning skills required for a future circular economy. All project results are intended to help designing curricula for schools and providers of adult, youth and vocational education providers by offering ways to promote further education, mobilisation, and greater social innovation in this field.Our ultimate goal is to contribute to finding new, innovative means that allow us to move away from a culture of “produce to discard”, as outlined by the European Commission, and work toward the European Union’s Circular Economy Action Plan.

Modern society is undergoing rapid and profound changes. A recent study found that about 30% of tasks in 60% of occupations could be atomized (December 2017, McKinsey & Company) leaving space and need for new synergies between activities and innovations. In terms of social innovation, European Commission brings up the concept of co-creation on the agenda: “The empowerment of actors is, according to research as well as practitioners (Vale, A. 2009), what qualifies the innovation — ‘engaging citizens as co-creators’.” This idea was also expressed by President Barroso: ‘A successful innovation policy is one that involves all actors in society, innovation is something you do with people, not to them’ (13 October 2010). If the ultimate objective is to introduce sustainable change, then the main variable is people’s empowerment. “Co-creation and co-innovation by universities and public research organisations with businesses, social institutions, government, and citizens need a specific set of skills” (EC, 2014). Co-Engage is built on the conviction that teaching participation through co-creation will contribute to the empowerment of all citizens, independently of their age, gender, ethnic or any other belongings. Co-Engage has been conceived by 8 European partners, active in different fields and sectors, from social innovation and services till fashion design, experienced in formal and non-formal education. Our consortium will contribute to the development of co-creation skills enabling citizens to become social innovators. Based on the exchange of experiences and learning through co-creation, our method will permit to bring in light know-how and competences engaging citizens for innovation and creativity and through this, creating bridges between divers sectors and fields of activity. Co-Engage project circle is oriented on work packages, milestones, staff trainings and transnational meetings. The most important activities carried out will be the collection and analysis of good practices and their testing in co-creation labs. Co-creation labs will be implemented during three training courses. Co-creation labs typically involve hands-on activities in which a group of peers expresses experiences and explores potential solutions in a tangible way. Collaborating in this way provokes discussion and creates valuable insights. Co-Engage methodology will build on the concept of “critical design thinking”, an attitude where critical approach of traditional and accustomed values brings new ideas and new results and form an important element of co-creation. The overall aim of Co-Engage is to identify the main areas where co-creation can contribute to turning citizens in active innovators of the society, and to gather and discuss good practices representing each of these areas. In order to achieve this main goal, the implementation phase of the project will lead to 5 main results. Result 1: elaboration of at least 80 smart practice evaluations on co-creation methods in the different sectors (private, public and NGO) based on a commonly approved evaluation grid. Result 2: Organisation of 3 Co-Engage Labs. During the labs, the techniques and methods of co-creation will be discussed (Lab 1 - Co-discovery: Citizens as co-implementers), their transferability will be tested (Lab 2 - co-speculation: Citizens as co-designers) and finally the methods will be implemented outside the project (Lab 3 - Co-Creation: Citizens as initiators). Result 3: The smart practices evaluation and the three Co-Engage Labs will lead to the identification of a large number of co-creation practices, that will be gathered and presented in an interactive map; Result 4: The Co-Engage consortium is composed by partners who are all actively engaged in teaching and training; each of them representing at least 2 of the key competences of Lifelong Learning identified by the Erasmus + programme. A specific work package of the project will be dedicated at the identification of the main pedagogical tools and methods improving co-creation skills, as well as of their main learning outcomes. Result 5: A project eBook, main dissemination product of the project. It will summarise all methods, recommendations and inputs.

Project Too RecyCOOL for School connects topics of the fashion industry and sustainability with distance learning forms of non-formal education as a response to demands of today's world. Our clothing is everyday part of our lives, yet transparency of its production is on a worldwide scale almost non-existable, who made our clothes and what they are made of are questions with answers difficult to find.Talking about the fashion industry is important because it's an industry with heavy impacts on environmental and social areas. It's unthinkable that it could sustain in the form as we know it today, and its flaws were completely exposed with the arrival of a pandemic and social crisis of workers in this industry.Young people are the main target group of fast fashion campaigns, both selling campaigns and greenwashing campaigns. These are aimed on young people who are trying to and succeeding in living their lives in more sustainable and responsible ways. Finding verified information in chaos around us, picking the relevant parts and connecting them in context is demanding, but doable, as long as young people have the insight into the subject.This project idea was raised and developed by Star Team, which is a group of four young people, volunteers in Fashion Revolution Slovakia, actively participating in running the organization and its campaign. They are coming from and working with a target group, so they know the needs of young people and ways of dealing with them. Star Team is a connection between organisation and implementation of the project and they will shape and moderate it. Activism, eco-grupos and volunteerism - young people want to solve topics surrounding them, but the topic of the fashion industry is completely absent especially in formal and non formal education. The only way to educate about it is through self-study and following campaigns on social media.The aim of the project is to widen and deepen young people competencies, obtain their better orientation within topics of fashion industry and its sustainability, its place in the world economics context, understanding the impact of the fashion industry on the environment, society and economy, its connection with our everyday lives and finding solutions (literally) through our own wardrobes. Development of this know-how and skills (evaluation of own user habits, ability to amend own clothing, critical approach to commercial campaigns, recognition of greenwashing, etc) will shift attitudes of young participants of this education.Outcomes of the project are lessons about the fashion industry and sustainability, usable in formal and nonformal environments by young people and young people with hearing difficulties. Open source lessons will offer cross-sectional education absent in the formal education system, lessons will be reflecting subjects of classic school subjects.Activities in these lessons will be created the way they are usable in different conditions and youth workers/educators will be able to adapt them to the needs of their target groups. Universality of lessons is guaranteed thanks to their form.Project primary target groups are young people, young people with hearing difficulties and youth workers/educators working with them. Secondary target groups are educational and edification institutions, formal and informal groups of people with hearing difficulties and all prospective users.Project will result in a unified package of 50 lessons in text and video form, available for and manageable by young people and young people with hearing difficulties, as well as in methodology on how to use these lessons in work with the target groups.Other results of the project will be fully educated 100 young people with/without hearing difficulties from partner countries, formation of Star Teams (groups of young people contributing to project activities and activities of partners, each 3-4 members) and their ability to cooperate on international level, fully educated 15 youth workers from 5 partner countries (with own participation on project outcomes, ready to use, disseminate and build on these outcomes), 150 youth workers from 5 partners countries able to use outcomes in their work. All this will strengthen the educational environment on national and european level and contribute to digitalisation of education.