<< Background >>The linear economy model (take – make – waste) currently in use is showing all its limitations over time. For this reason, the EU is promoting an alternative economic system designed to regenerate itself and ensure its eco-sustainability (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Financing the Circular Economy, 2020), called circular economy (CE). In fact, CE can help countries to reach the global climate goals, changing the way they produce and consume goods.Companies have started to consider the fight against waste as their priority, adopting more sustainable practices. This will also affect the job market because, as stated in the EU Green Deal (2019), “the circular economy offers great potential for new activities and jobs”, connected with low-emission production processes and sustainable products. Thus, it is essential that future workers acquire knowledge related to the CE and sustainability, strengthening their green skills (EC, Education for Climate Action). This is particularly urgent in the economic sectors identified as priorities in “The new circular economy action plan” (2020) of the European Commission (EC, A New Circular Economy Action Plan for a Cleaner and More Competitive Europe, 2020), such as wood, plastics and agrifood. A fundamental role in this changing process will be played by VET institutions, particularly those active in the priority fields identified by the EC, in order to “engage with pupils, parents, and the wider community on the changes needed for a successful transition”(EU, Green Deal, 2019). Including in their learning and training programs courses of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) related to the CE and its principles (recycle, reuse, avoid wasting, eco-design, etc.), would enable educational institutions not only to disseminate knowledge and skills in line with global priorities on the environmental protection and with the labour market, but also to make students aware consumers and, potentially, future aware producers. Sustainability must be conceived as a transversal theme in the courses of schools and VET institutions, that is, as a lens through which we can reconsider the other subjects that are taught (ACR+ & Zero Waste Scotland, Circular Economy and Lifelong Learning - scenarios, methodologies, in action, 2019).In this context, the UN’s International Labour Office (ILO) identified the main challenges affecting the establishment of a CE and the role of green skills in supporting this transition (ILO, 2011):1- A lack of skills is hindering green economic development. In this skills shortage, it is reported that “many countries lack sufficient teachers and trainers in environmental awareness”;2- Many countries did not put in place development strategies for “green skills”;3- Green skills have not been sufficiently identified;4- Appropriate training has to be put in place to respond to this skills shortage. In particular, VET, which represents the bulk of training for green occupation, has been reacting more slowly than other educational sectors;5- The CE will have a profound negative effect on high carbon emitting sectors, such as petrochemical, manufacturing and agricultural industries. In all these sectors, workers, trainees and students need training in “green skills”.TREE project was designed to effectively respond to the context and the challenges listed above. In particular, TREE project will address the following needs:Provision of common definitions of “green skills” for the plastics, wood and agrifood sector;Provision of training for teachers to implement ESD in VET institutions;Increase of VET students environmental awareness and “green skills”;Integrating the teaching of ESD in VET institutions to provide “green skills”;Harmonization of educational policies for promotion of the green transition and the CE;Establishing closer cooperation between businesses and VET institutions.<< Objectives >>“Micro and project-based learning for Teaching ciRcular Economy and Ecological awareness in VET” (TREE project) aims to increase the employability of VET students through the creation of an innovative course on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and promote the CE through the infusion of new “green skills”. Drawing on Micro- and Project-based learning practices, TREE project will aim to provide a programme that can readily be adopted in VET’s curricula. The above goals will be reached, through the attainment of the following 7 specific objectives:Provide definitions of relevant “green skills” for the plastics, wood and agrifood sector: The project will aim to fight the skills mismatch hindering the development of the CE by identifying, selecting, and defining the “green skills” that workers of the plastics, wood and agrifood sector will need to participate in the green economy. In order to ensure the direct applicability of these skills in the job market, their definition will be established through a cooperation between education experts, VET teachers, job and HR consultants working in green companies of the three sectors identified.Integrate the teaching of ESD and the CE into VET institutions’ curricula:In order to contribute to the green transition, VET institutions all over Europe need to teach ESD as a transversal theme, integrating it in their current curricula. The TREE project will aim to do so, by establishing a training course based on micro- and project-based learning, to maximize its transferability and simplify its adoption in regular teaching activities of VET institutions.Promote collaboration between VET institutions and companies that adopt sustainable practices:The TREE project will aim to foster collaboration between green companies of the plastics, wood, and agrifood sector and VET institutions, in order to reduce the gap between education and the job market. In particular, companies will provide relevant support in defining the “green skills” needed by their workers, ensuring the effectiveness of TREE project training course.Increase VET teachers’ competences to teach ESD for the CE:As VET teachers are lacking the relevant competencies to teach ESD, notions of the CE and transfer “green skills” on their students, TREE project will aim to establish relevant training for them. The training will aim to increase their teaching competences, knowledge of sustainability and ecological awareness, making them active participants of the green transition.Promote the infusion of relevant “green skills” for the job market in VET students:Through the training course developed within the TREE project, students will obtain new “green skills” that will increase their employability and help them contribute to the green transition. The usefulness of the “green skills” identified within the project will be guaranteed by the direct involvement of green companies.Increase the ecological awareness of VET students and teachers, as well as promote the adoption of “green habits”:Within the TREE project, both teachers and students will gain relevant knowledge about ecological awareness and sustainable behaviors. In this way, the project aims to support the diffusion of “green habits” at the local level.Support policy harmonization at national and EU level for teaching ESD:The training courses will be based on extensive and comprehensive researches about national and EU policy relating to ecology, CE and ESD. These researches will be completed with the development of policy suggestions that will be presented to relevant institutions with the aim to foster harmonization of educational policies at national and EU level.<< Implementation >>The activities planned to reach the objectives mentioned above may be divided into three steps:Step 1 - Knowledge building: All partners will conduct researches to define:The appropriate “green skills” that VET trainees will need to participate in the green economy;The partner countries and European contexts in relation to current practices and methodologies for teaching ESD in VET institutions and their connection to the job market and the CE;How to integrate Micro- and Project-based learning to teach ESD and infuse “green skills” in VET students;Instructions on how to effectively teach ESD within VET institutions.This step will be mainly carried out through the integration of primary and secondary research activities. Primary research will consist in the administration of questionnaires, the conducting of semi-structured interviews and/or focus groups with VET teachers, VET staff and green companies, to better understand their opinions, expectations, wishes and challenges in relation to ESD, “green skills”, CE and the needs of the job market. Primary research will be mainly used to identify, select and define the appropriate “green skills” for the plastics, wood and agrifood sectors, as well as ensure that project’s results will answer to the needs of the target groups. On the other hand, secondary research will comprise a desk review aimed at collecting useful information on (i) national and EU policies, (ii) best practices for teaching ESD in VET institutions, (iii) knowledge on how to adopt micro- and project-based learning to teach ESD and “green skills”, and (iv) how to integrate the teaching of ESD in VET institutions. Step 2 - Training Course design and testing:Step 2 will be devoted to the creation of the project teaching material, the training of teachers and the testing in VET institutions. All partners will collaborate to create the modules of the course and define the methodologies that will be used in the training activities for teachers. Then, after completing the training of VET teachers, teachers will be asked to test the project’s course in their institutions. To verify the effectiveness of the teaching methodologies and the training course, all partners will carry out monitoring activities through the administration of questionnaires among teachers and students. The results of the monitoring activities will be collected to develop a final report on the testing of the training course.Step 3 - Digitalization:Finally, during Step 3, the material produced in the previous phases will be collected, digitized and uploaded on an online Open Educational Resource (OER) platform. Partners will cooperate to determine the technical solutions that are more appropriate to answer the needs of the target groups and develop multimedia material (such as videos, slides, texts, audios, etc.) to upload on the OER platform. The platform will provide both training materials for teachers, as well as pre-made lessons to be readily adopted in classes. Moreover, the platform will also include a section dedicated to the presentation of different green companies contacted to share information about their processes, products and in what way they contribute to the green transition, presenting relevant and concrete examples of sustainable industrial practices. Partners will contact these companies and involve them in the project as associated partners.<< Results >>Within TREE project three main Results (R) are foreseen:R1 - TREE Methodological Material (e-book)A comprehensive review of ESD, CE topics and educational policies related to sustainability in partner countries and at EU level, that will include:- A definition of the main topics and green skills addressed by TREE project course;- A description of how micro- and project-based learning will be adopted to successfully instill the green skills identified in - students;- A list of instructions on how to implement ESD in VET institutions - Good practices for teaching ESD in VET institutions- Policy recommendations on how to foster the teaching of ESD at national and EU level.Main deliverables: National and Transnational AnalysesMethodological Material (e-book)R2 - TREE Training ProgrammeA complete training programme on ESD and the CE, divided in two macro-sections, one devoted to the teaching of more general ESD and CE topics through “micro-learning modules”, addressing also sustainable behaviors that can be adopted on a daily basis, and a second one that will explain to students how CE and sustainability are declined in specific economic sectors (wood, plastics and agrifood), through the adoption of “project-based learning” practices. This result will also include a testing phase in VET institutions. Teachers will be trained to learn the methodologies adopted in course and update their knowledge about sustainability and the CE. After their training, they will adopt the TREE Training Programme in their institutions for a period of 12 weeks, during which partners will collect data to monitor the process and analyze the effectiveness of the content and the teaching practices. The data collected will be used to develop an analysis report on the impact of the training programme. Main deliverables:TREE Training ProgrammeTesting reportR3 - TREE Open Educational Resource (OER) platformA web-based online repository comprising all the materials developed throughout the project. The OER will be freely accessible and it will allow the dissemination of TREE results at EU level. The OER platform and TREE progrmme will be tested by external experts, in order to obtain data on their effectiveness, as well as relevant feedback and suggestions for their implementation in VET. Moreover, it will also include a specific section, called TREE Network Database, which will include information about companies of the plastics, wood and agrifood sectors that adopt relevant green practices, as well as international opportunities for VET students, such as internships, jobs or other relevant offers for them.Main deliverables:TREE OER platformReport on platform testingTREE network databaseIn terms of impact, the project will generate:- Increased knowledge and awareness about ecology and circular economy of VET students and VET teachers;- Establishment of a closer link between VET institutions and business;- Strengthening of VET’s institutions curricula towards ecological issues;- Increased adoption of eco-friendly habits in all target groups involved;- Infusion of “green skills” in VET students directly involved in the project's activities.Long-term benefits envisaged are:- Increased employability of VET’s students;- Diffusion of ecological habits at local, regional and EU level;- Increased awareness and diffusion of “green skills” at local, regional and EU level.