Today we celebrate the World Environment Day, the largest global platform for environmental public outreach.  

This year, we are highlighting one of the most worrying environmental challenges of our time: plastic pollution. It permeates every corner of the planet, even in our bodies in the form of microplastics. World Environment Day 2025 calls for collective action to tackle plastic pollution, encouraging individuals, organizations, industries, and governments to adopt sustainable practices for a green transition. 

In alignment with the European Union’s Green Transition and its commitment to environmental sustainability, Vocational Education and Training stands as a critical role in equipping learners and professionals with green skills to foster green innovation. 

EfVET actively contributes to this transition through multiple EU funded initiatives: 

• The Digital Peer Review for Green and Digital VET project, focused on improving the quality and attractiveness of VET education by reinforcing self-assessment and peer assessment competencies for managers and trainers and to build a Community of Practice among VET institutions and professionals implementing the European Peer Review methodology. The project will culminate in a final conference on 18 June in Brussels, register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdnTFfFdiyvQFhDHfgTP2-MAJtX5WJ1ysD3HMDbTtzUWymtsw/viewform 

• The ENNEplus project (Enhancing VET National Networks through Eco-Innovation) aims to enhance the capacity of VET providers in contributing to the transformative and sustainable change of their local communities through networking, capacity building and challenged-based activities in the field of Eco-innovation. ENNE+ has been doing Eco-Digithons where young people tackle real environmental challenges using digital tools and teamwork dynamics. The International Eco-Digithon will be in Spello, Italy from 4-6 July, where teams from several European countries will showcase innovative projects supporting the green transition. 

It is vital to recognise the urgent need of a green transition and remark the role that VET can have in supporting this. By investing in skills development and innovation, we can ensure that environmental awareness becomes an integral part of our learning journey.