How to ensure green skills and promote green vocational institutions

Key points

The EESC:

• recommends a systemic approach to green skills training, integrating multi-level governance, targeted investment and inclusive educational models. Agility in skills design must be translated into concrete action, including through the empowerment of local and regional authorities and the effective implementation of existing mechanisms, such as the European green skills monitoring system and territorial observatories;

• recommends making strategic use of European funds to modernise VET, support lifelong learning and improve the qualifications of trainers. It is necessary to encourage public-private partnerships for the development of green skills and to adequately support SMEs in implementing training programmes. It is essential to ensure sufficient resources are allocated to guarantee effective green and digital training.

• recommends developing a clear framework for the implementation of micro-credentials and promoting the widespread adoption of modular and flexible training pathways, particularly those based on blended learning;

• recommends the systemic integration of sustainability into education and training through cross-border cooperation, student and teacher mobility, and the exchange of good practices. The Erasmus+ programme plays a key role by supporting the green and digital transition in VET;

• recommends fully implementing the first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) and ensuring that “everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market’;

• stresses that workers should benefit from quality vocational training throughout their careers, including guidance and skills assessment tools. A common European approach is needed for assessing the impact of training and disseminating good practices, including through social dialogue and collective bargaining in line with national practices.

• calls for AI to be used as a tool to make vocational training more responsive to the needs of the green transition, anticipating emerging training needs, rapidly updating curricula and personalising learning pathways. However, it is essential to ensure that its use is ethical and sustainable, with teachers and trainers receiving adequate training.