Green Skills for Green Future

On the road to a green economy, we need a fundamental transformation in all economic sectors as well as in production and consumer behaviour. New skills are needed - both for green jobs and for entrepreneurship. The importance of green entrepreneurial skills for the sustainable development of the European economy is highlighted in 2 key documents of the Euro-framework for Action on the Green Economy - improving the resource efficiency of SMEs; supporting green entrepreneurship; facilitating market access for green businesses and developing skills for an environmentally friendly economy. Our project brought together the efforts of 4 organisations from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania working in the field of education in an attempt to offer a long-term solution to a key pan-European challenge related to the development of green thinking among young people in Europe. The activities aimed to cover the needs of EU countries for transformation towards a green economy, as well as the development of competences needed for green job creation and entrepreneurship through the creation and use of a blended learning methodology applicable in secondary education.

Our work on the project focused on transforming the EU economy into a green one and developing new skills for green jobs and entrepreneurship. The project aimed to bridge the 'gap' in the education system between the need for new green skills and the lack of adequate educational content to develop such skills, by creating a methodology for the benefit of teachers for blended learning in green entrepreneurship. Teachers and students directly involved and interested in the topic actively participated in the project. The project has had a significant impact on teachers and students as well as on the partner organisations and other stakeholders. Through the implementation of the project, we aimed to improve the relevance of school education to the realities of current and future trends in the development of the European and global green economy and to improve the applied entrepreneurship education in European secondary schools, to increase the effectiveness and improve the performance of teachers, to increase student interest and satisfaction with the results achieved.

Our efforts were directed on developing a methodology offering innovative training models. Project activities included:. Project activities included: - Three desk studies on green entrepreneurship resources, and exemplary models and practices for learning green skills - composting, aquaristics and landscape design. - Organizing and conducting an innovative student eco-club combining interactive thematic activities related to principles in ecology and environmental protection. - We developed a methodology and curriculum content and sample lessons to integrate knowledge from the expertise and know-how of organisations as leading providers of youth entrepreneurship training in their countries. - We built an online platform and sample lessons for green entrepreneurship training, in which we presented the models and practices of blended learning (sample modules). - We trained teachers to teach basic green entrepreneurship in secondary education, in line with the EU vision for the new programme priorities. - We organised a summer camp for students under the motto "I think green" with a focus on the importance of sustainable green skills development.

Our work on the project „Green Skills for Green Future“ has increased the relevance of the curriculum as a whole in relation to the realities of current and future trends in the development of the European and global green economy. As a result of the work of the partner organisations, we have been able to propose an improved version of a model for introducing green education within the curriculum. We have increased teacher satisfaction by providing them with the opportunity to deliver high quality new content to achieve green skills, through blended learning methods and digital tools (online learning platform). Secondary school students who were part of the project activities had the opportunity to develop an environmental and entrepreneurial mindset that will allow them to keep their motivation strong for further development in this field. They increased their key competences, enriched their experience of international cooperation with other teachers and students, developed a stronger sense of initiative, gained self-confidence and self-belief. During the project activities we achieved successful and effective internal communication between project members from all partner organisations.