Developing Eco Skills for a Green Economy

As a result of the steady economic development Europe is facing a huge number of low-skilled adults that need to be integrated into the labour market. But for a successful integration of low-skilled adults into their social environment good education is essential. DECOS combines labour market integration with social integration via environmental awareness and green skills. The environmental standards and awareness in Europe’s workplaces and societies is very high. E.g. waste separation and management is an important issue to many European people, neighbourhoods, communities and cities. Often these topics are rarely developed at low-skilled adults, either in their social environment or at the workplace. DECOS addresses these education gaps and will contribute to a more successful integration of low-skilled adults in their social environment AND the labour market.The main objectives of this project are:- developing a new and innovative curriculum (based on ECVET and EQF standards) for fostering social AND labour market integration of low-skilled adults through green skills- train DECOS trainers (min 10) in a TtT seminar- develop teaching materials for trainers - develop an DECOS guide-book for trainees (about 40 pages)- develop a three-module training course (waste management, energy management and cleaner production)- develop three easy to use e-learning modules (blended learning)- develop e-testing system- train low-skilled adults (min 100) in pilot trainings and evaluate the training and teaching materials- disseminate project results in partner countries and beyond - set up a cross-media platform as a transfer centre to ensure the sustainability of the projectWhile the waste and energy management modules of the DECOS training could be applied in any social and professional environment, the third module: cleaner production/sustainability will exclusively focus on the applicability of green skills on the workplace and thereby enhance the employability of successful DECOS trainees.Although there are VET trainings for achieving green skills and there are also initiatives and trainings for improving environmental awareness, the specific target group of low-skilled adults has not been targeted so far. They often lack green skills and environmental awareness, therefore it is important focusing on this lack for and increase environmental competences and awareness towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Because of the individual knowledge-gaps, a training designed towards the specific needs of this highly relevant and growing target group is needed. The participants of the DECOS training need to be willing to improve their competences and skills to be more employable on the market and active in the society on green issues and environmental awareness. To ensure the quality of the DECOS training and its outcomes, every participant of the training needs to fulfil some formal criteria: minimum age of 18 years and a certain language level. These minimum criteria ensure that the participants will understand the content of the training properly and that they can apply for jobs during or after the training.