Sustainability in Vocational Education Erasmus Project

Project Title

Sustainability in Vocational Education

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 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Social/environmental responsibility of educational institutions; Inclusion – equity; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

Over the last number of years there has been a growing concern about the impact humanity is having on the environment. Issues such as tackling climate change, waste disposal, the prevalence of single use plastics, and loss of biodiversity are all key elements in ensuring that we provide a suitable environment for future generations. Students themselves have very much taken up the case for improving our attitude to environmental protection and are demanding that their vocational institutes respond in creative ways to the current environmental issues. It is also clear that environmental issues affect all teachers and students and as such provide a focal point for students from different racial, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds to work together towards a common goal. The aim of this project is to identify good and bad practices within our Vocational institutes on areas of environmental concern, to examine firstly how the institutes operate and identify ways in which environmental best practice can be incorporated into the normal day to day operation of the Institutes and secondly to identify areas within the curriculum where sustainable, environmentally friendly technologies can be promoted and where students and teachers can be empowered to incorporate sustainability in a very real way into their courses. This aim could also be stated as giving the institutes the knowledge and tools at a local level to adopt best practice in sustainable course delivery and through this good example and direct examination of course content place sustainable vocational methods at the forefront of course content. In this context we plan to examine the following key environmental issues in the context of how they relate to vocational education:
Litter and Waste: including strategies to reduce the amount of waste material generated within the colleges and increased focus on recycling. Also a particular emphasis on the reduction in plastic waste.
Energy: Examination both of ways that energy can be conserved within the colleges and also opportunities that may be available to promote or adopt clean energy usage.
Water: Increase awareness of the importance of water as a resource and the need to reduce waste. Also the opportunities for water collection within the colleges.
Travel: Both an examination of how students and teachers travel to college, travel for college activities and how the effects of this can be reduced. This may include changes in travel patterns but also initiatives to compensate for carbon emissions as a result of educational travel
Biodiversity: Examination of how the college can increase biodiversity at a local level. This may include planting strategies, areas for wild flowers and insects, introduction of animal life into the college campus for example bird or bat boxes, insect areas, roof gardens, tree planting etc.
In examining all of these we will strive to see which strategies can best be employed in our own colleges to create a more sustainable environment while also promoting the idea of European and global citizenship within these themes. Crucially here these themes are to be evaluated not in a theoretical manner but in a very practical way directly related to our vocational colleges. We will challenge teachers and students to make a real local difference in relation to sustainability in each of these areas by making practical changes within the colleges that will both directly help sustainability but will also through example encourage others to follow similar strategies. In addition teachers will examine each of these themes to see if changes or additions to their course delivery can encourage students to use sustainable vocational methods as they head into their working lives. The idea here is that the project follows a holistic approach with the colleges demonstrating good sustainable practices through their own day to day activity and through their vocational curriculum. The target group for this project is the vocational teacher and the students they work with. Teachers and students will work together to introduce sustainability initiatives into the vocational institutes and into the curricula with the dual goal of making our institutes more environmentally friendly and making all students and teachers more aware of sustainability issues. We will draw on the experiences of teachers in different countries and tap into the expertise that some VEIs have in the implementation of sustainability initiatives. The success of the project will primarily be judged by the sustainability initiatives implemented in each partner institute and their adoption of a holistic approach to environmental sustainability. The project learning will be made widely available through social media, a project website and project book, as well as the E+PR Platform, where all results will be uploaded at the end of the project.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 230180 Eur

Project Coordinator

Cork Education and Training Board & Country: IE

Project Partners

• KUSADASI EGITIM KULTUR SANAT SPOR VE TURIZM DERNEGI
• INSPECTORATUL SCOLAR JUDETEAN BACAU
• Siauliu profesinio rengimo centras
• Berufskolleg Kreis Höxter
• Haapsalu Kutsehariduskeskus
• IES RIBERA DEL TAJO