Enhancing green-skills in VET through citrus waste valorisation Erasmus Project

Project Title

Enhancing green-skills in VET through citrus waste valorisation

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

Project Summary

CONTEXT
According to the European Environment Agency (2016), agriculture has a direct effect in climate change, being responsible of 10% of the EU’s greenhouse-gas emissions. The waste of citrus farming, mainly eliminated through controlled burning or crushing (to add to the field), generate considerable amounts of influential greenhouse gases as methane and nitrox oxide.
At the same time, employment in the environmental goods and services sector in the EU has been growing by 20% since 2000, providing nowadays 4.2 million jobs (Eurostat, 2018). Nevertheless, although there is a general consensus about the benefits of green employment, specialists highlight the “green skills gap” and the urgent need of upgrading the competences required for the eco-industry (EU Green Week, 2017).

OBJECTIVES
Uniting the two priorities mentioned above with the aims of Strategic Partnerships in the field of VET, the general goal of CitriVET has been to develop, transfer and implement innovative practices that enhance agricultural VET studies through the transformation of citrus waste in bioproducts (essential oils, biofuel and animal food).
To achieve the general goal, the following specific objectives were defined:
– To promote the professional development of VET teachers strengthening their competences to introduce in VET curricula the transformation of citrus waste in bioproducts.
– To reinforce the employability of VET students through high-quality international work-based practices in the field of citrus waste valorisation.
– To strengthen the acquisition of key competences (English language, digital literacy) in agricultural VET studies, including disadvantaged learners.
– To enhance intersectoral partnerships in order to facilitate the transition of the students to the labour market.

PARTICIPANTS
Regarding the organisations, CitriVET partnership includes three VET centres (ARCES, Escola Profissional de Alte and EFA La Malvesia) and three non-VET centres (Area Europa, Universidade do Algarve and Low Carbon Economy Foundation) from Italy, Portugal and Spain respectively.
The direct target groups of CitriVET were 60 students and 30 teachers from 3 agricultural VET centres located in citrus areas of producer countries (Italy, Portugal and Spain). Indirectly, through the website, social networks, multiplier events, press articles and news, and also thanks to the word of mouth, other groups (mainly teachers from other agricultural VET centres and professionals/enterprises, including local public administrations) have been interested in the outcomes of the project, exceeding the amount of 100 people who have access to the project’s results.

ACTIVITIES AND METHODOLOGY
CitriVET implementation has followed the following structure:
1) Beginning – Signature of bilateral agreements, preparation of the activities and schedules
2) VET staff training – Preparation of a technical manual and a blended course for VET teachers
3) VET students training – Implementation of practical tools in VET classroom and blended learning for VET students (due to the COVID-19 outbreak, two of the planned learning, teaching activities were done virtually)
4) Closure – Final evaluation, road map for future joint ventures
5) Project Management (transversal) – Monthly reports, virtual and transnational meetings
6) Dissemination (transversal) – CitriVET website, social networks, meetings… mainly addressed to VET students, VET teachers and potential employers

Among the intellectual outputs produced in CitriVET, there can be found:
– O1. Manual for agricultural VET teachers: The transformation of citrus waste in bioproducts. Techniques, methodologies and technologies
– O2. E-learning course for agricultural VET teachers: The transformation of citrus waste in bioproducts. Techniques, methodologies and technologies
– O3. Toolkit to promote participatory learning activities with VET agricultural students in citrus waste valorisation
– O4. Agricultural VET students and transnational work-based experiences: Guidelines for high quality and innovative blended mobility in the field of citrus valorisation (as two activities were done online, a new section in this output was created in order to address this option)

RESULTS AND IMPACT
CitriVET’s implementation has contributed:
– To reduce the gap between the business opportunities offered by the valorisation of citrus waste and the curricula in agricultural VET.
– To update VET teachers’ competences regarding the transformation of citrus waste.
– To facilitate new opportunities for VET students of agricultural studies based on high quality work-based experiences.
– To strengthen key competences (especially language skills and digital literacy) in VET.
– To promote the alignment of agricultural VET studies with the requirements of the labour market.

Project Website

https://citrivet.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 166980,54 Eur

Project Coordinator

Fundación de la Comunitat Valenciana para una Economía Baja en Carbón & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Escola Profissional de Alte, CIPRL
• Area Europa scrl
• UNIVERSIDADE DO ALGARVE
• Federación EFAS CV La Malvesia
• Associazione ARCES