The CIRCular Economy through Integrated LEarning in VET: CIRCLE Erasmus Project

Project Title

The CIRCular Economy through Integrated LEarning in VET: CIRCLE

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 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Energy and resources

Project Summary

Education is the force for the future because it is one of the most powerful instruments of change. One of the greatest problems we face is how to adjust our way of thinking to meet the challenge of an increasingly complex world. We must rethink our way of organizing knowledge. This means breaking down the traditional barriers between disciplines. We have to redesign our educational policies and programs. And as we put these reforms into effect we have to keep our sights on the long term and honor our tremendous responsibility for future generations. From: Seven complex lessons in education for the future – Edgar Morin – UNESCO.

Project context is outlined by the key words in the quoted text: education as a powerful instrument of change and responsibility for future generations, in a perspective that takes into account the increasing complexity of our time. When we put these words together we got the framework of our project: an experience that mixes crucial elements for the educational system, for society and people. Going deeply the project explores one specific topic (Circular Economy) and one methodology (integrated teaching and learning) mixing them with the aim to foster a new topic by a new approach reinforcing, at the same time, the learners’ key competences, as required by the main flagship initiatives of the European Union in this field.

The European Commission has recently adopted an ambitious new Circular Economy Package to help European businesses and consumers to make the transition to a stronger CE where resources are used in a more sustainable way. CE represents an opportunity for economic growth and employment, able to reduce skills mismatches between training offer and enterprises needs, with the benefit of all of us. The key words of the CE: share, repair, recycle, reuse and remanufacturing should become familiar to all of us and reshape our way of thinking. In this context education plays a crucial role: by the VET system and by the medium of the professionals operating within the system, it is possible to contribute to mainstream the principles of the CE and help people to reshape their way of living and working.

Within this framework, the project aims to create a serie of tool kits for teachers, trainers, mentors and other professionals operating within the VET system to support them in promoting the CE knowledge among learners, spreading the CE principles from bottom to top and from top to bottom. The project goal is to approach the topic breaking down the traditional barriers between disciplines, integrating the topic of CE into existing VET curricula (the project will target the following sectors: tourism related services and other economic activities, agriculture and transport) and making it a mainstreaming element widely testing the strategy in five countries in Europe.

To get this goal with objective to design and disseminate a replicable format, project intends to build up a transversal group of people (VET teachers, trainers, mentors, representatives of the business sector and learners, for a total amount of about 330 people) working together at transnational level during the whole project life. They will contribute to the implementation of the project intellectual output and will act as testimonial, in their working place, during the multiplier events – that will involve 300 participants – and further on.

Sharing European Commission assessments on CE and on education, the project, in its effort towards the mainstreaming of a new topic and a new educational approach responds to the needs of the VET system to promote its quality and attractiveness; to forecast the future, to better understand the nature of trends and deep drivers of change and their likely future impacts. On the other hand it responds to the need of the final beneficiaries (VET learners) to be equipped to face the challenge of a increasingly complex world.

Project targets, in a transversal way, VET system by different perspectives: it targets VET teachers, trainers, mentors and other professionals as it it proposes them a new methodology to face a crucial topic of interest for all the VET providers and offers them three specific kits of tools to better their knowledge and effectiveness; it targets, indirectly, the final beneficiaries as it gives them the chance to improve their competences and skills.

The coverage of the project is extensive: it outlines a circle path that crosses Europe reflecting its diversity: starting from Lithuania (VET provider), passing through Turkey (Chamber of Commerce), Italy (social communication and training research SME) and Spain (language training SME) it arrives to UK (Higher Education Institute).
The project context, the participants people profile and the project priorities are naturally European: when we look at the mainstreaming of a circular approach to life and at the fostering of new educational methodologies we can’t put apart a meta-nation perspective.

Project Website

http://circlelearning.eu

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 186255 Eur

Project Coordinator

Panevezio darbo rinkos mokymo centras & Country: LT

Project Partners

• LAWTON SCHOOL S.L.
• Tarsus Ticaret ve Sanayi Odasi
• THE GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY
• Bluebook s.r.l.