<< Background >>The EU launched an unprecedented, ambitious initiative “The European Green Deal” (EGD) as an integral part of the EU Commission’s strategy to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda & the sustainable development goals. Reliable, comparable & verifiable information plays an important part in enabling consumers to make more sustainable decisions & reduces the risk of ‘greenwashing’. As part of EGD initiatives, companies will be required to report against a standard methodology & to assess their impact on the environment. In current practice, the Non-financial Reporting Directive (NFRD, no. 2014/95/EU) lays down the rules on disclosure of non-financial information by companies & is fully transposed in all EU Member States (including partners’ countries). Companies are required to include non-financial statements in their annual reports from 2018 onwards, regarding operational, social & environmental data. However, as the reporting obligation applies only to certain types of companies over 500 employees, the proportion of businesses disclosing non-financial information is very low. Moreover, several problems were identified, raising a question mark referring to the company’s capacity in delivering such reports; various analyses reveal that in many cases, information is provided at a general level and/or data are incomplete and non-comparable. Moreover, most SMEs and other organizations have been struggling to report on a voluntary basis due to their insufficient capacity and understanding of the issue. Nevertheless, the new Corporate Social Reporting Directive (CSRD) is currently in the legislative process that extends its scope to all companies over 250 employees and certain SMEs, which will be required to report on non-financial aspects of their business since 2024. The number of companies subject to the mandatory reporting will thus be many times higher and the managers and responsible employees will have to cope with new challenges. Therefore the project aims to fill a gap in VET programmes dealing with knowledge in sustainability strategic approach & reporting & build up a common approach for VET teachers & learners across the EU to respond to the requirements of the future & flexible job market, to: - Develop partnerships amongst educators, businesses & other stakeholders aimed at promoting work-based learning in all its forms & supporting VET learners in acquiring & developing skills & key competences in sustainability reporting & foster employability; - Introduce open education & innovative digital practices making education available for all & facilitating new learning methods by development of a new e-Learning platform; - Facilitation of the recognition & validation of competences for the SECuRe Manager job, covering the needs of companies, by the creation of an innovative VET course. Implement/test during short-term trainings & demo trainings the learning content & learning materials developed.<< Objectives >>The general idea of the proposed project is the creation of a new Vocational Educational Course & a corresponding Professional Skill/Competency profile, in line with ECVET, that will enable professional staff in a private and/or a public body & VET teachers, to become a certified SECuRe Managers (or specialized Trainer), able to either shape/establish a complete department focusing on sustainability strategy, reporting & related activities. The project will focus in developing knowledge, competences & strengthen key skills contributing to SECuRe education & promote open & innovative practices in the digital age, efficient use of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) in education, improving their teaching capacity through a creativity training program. The objectives are: - Develop partnerships amongst educators, businesses & stakeholders with the purpose of supporting VET learners in acquiring & developing skills & key competences in sustainability, CSR/financial data & SDGs reporting & foster employability. - Introduce open education & innovative digital practices & make education available for all & facilitate new learning methods, by development of a new e-Learning platform developed to assist the integration of sustainability issues through companies’ activities & manpower. - Facilitation of the recognition & validation of competences for the SECuRe Manager job, covering the needs of companies, by the creation of an innovative VET Course including gamification aspects - Implement/testing during short-term trainings & demo trainings the learning content & learning materials developed.<< Implementation >>The consortium will introduce a project management approach that will be based on the principles of Adaptive Project Framework concept. The key activities will be broken into four main areas: the initiation (starting the project on the right foot), the Intellectual Output/phases boundaries (commitment of resources), ad hoc direction (monitoring progress, providing advice & guidance, reacting to exception situations) & project closure (confirming the project outcome & controlled close). In order to achieve the timely & qualitative completion of the project, a coherent management approach, techniques & tools for managers to administrate, monitor & control the project resources, will be utilized. All partners will be involved in the delivery of intellectual outputs, they will be achieved by caring on activities according to the Work Plan & by applying specific methodologies & methods. The sequence of the activities follows a logical approach until the achievement of the final outcomes of the project. Those are connected to the main intellectual outputs as follows: The SECuRe Knowledge Repository (KR). Knowledge repositories help learners to connect with information & expertise globally via online searchable libraries, by providing a central location to collect, contribute & share digital learning resources for use. We will try to organise this collection by topics, so participants will have facile access to tailored information. The KR architecture will allow further enclosure by all partners of new released information, which is continuously developing in this area. Moreover, VET Teachers will be able to consult an open education resource in order to prepare for further courses, & stay updated to novelties. Development of the SECuRe VET Course; focusing on: Elaboration of the professional job profile for SECuRe Manager – according to the levels defined in the EQF job profile level, meaning a solid & realistic base for the training program development, which is explained in the project outcome 2. The Learning Outcomes will be structured in accordance with the standards outlined according to EQF) & ECVET. Development of SECuRe ICT elements: website & e-Learning platform. The ICT support tools are going to be developed simultaneously based on the elaborated content & will be tested in different phases of the project, the train the trainers course, the demo training & finally within the experimental online training. SECuRe Demo training of the draft course, all partners will undertake the following activities: (a) information, organizations & commitment of the target groups to participate in the demo training. (b) performance of the demo training in all countries (c) collecting feedback (d) summarizing feedback for further improvement of the course. Demo training will be performed in all countries, with the participation of all partners & the feedback shared among them with the final purpose to improve the course. SECuREOnline experimental course, the foreseen activities refer to preparing the content & make it ready for moving online, incorporation of interactivity in the content & conduction of the experimental Online Training. Project dissemination. Outputs: Communication & Dissemination Plan, common info tools developed to communicate results. According to the strategy, partners will have clear tasks & a timeframe to complete them. Five multiplier events are foreseen in all participating countries & are planned in systematic manner to disseminate the intellectual outputs & involve stakeholders at key steps of the project. Those will have the aim to involve the local stakeholders. Representation from all stakeholders is necessary in order to ensure that all interests are reflected in the course. A quality plan will be developed which includes qualitive and with it quantative measures in every activity.<< Results >>The foreseen results of the project are: - Development of the SECuRe Knowledge Repository - Development of the SECuRe VET COURSE prepared for certification in line with the European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System (ECVET) framework, - The course will be offered as a Free Open Educational Resource & will be accessible on the SECuRe e-Learning platform during the project lifetime & afterwards. By using modern, digital technologies & tools & software, the course aims at offering work-based learning & training to the companies’ staff, motivating & maximizing enjoyment & engagement of the staff to a “greener” & more sustainable behavior, meant to improve a company’s sustainability performance. Application of work based learning of SECuRe VET course within five pilot demos meant to collect feedback to be used to improve the Course. Massive online experimental online course for final validation of the SECuRe Educational Programme - SECuRe project is expected to have a significant impact on partners’ organizations, VET providers & institutions, consultants & professionals from any economic sector, & other relevant stakeholders that will be involved throughout the project lifetime & beyond. It is worth noting how the project will have an important impact in changing daily functions of enterprises, through the new role of certified staff/managers/trainers in SECuRe VET Course, & therefore, transforming, reshaping & reducing companies & organizations carbon footprint & environmental & social impacts.