February 27, 2025

EfVET attended in SMALEI’s Final Conference: “Empowering Adult Learning and Education for a Sustainable Future”

26 Feb. 2024 – EfVET participated in SMALEI’s (Sustainability Matrix for Adult Education Institutions) Final Conference “Empowering Adult Learning and Education for a Sustainable Future”, where the event bringed together distinguished institutional speakers and experts to discuss sustainability competencies, green policies in adult education, and practical tools for educators.

The SMALEI Erasmus+ project and EfVET share a common goal of strengthening educational institutions across Europe by fostering sustainability and capacity building. While SMALEI focuses on enhancing the sustainability of Adult Learning and Education (ALE) providers by addressing environmental and climate challenges, EfVET works to improve Vocational Education and Training (VET) through active networking and policy influence at both European and national levels.

The final conference served as a platform to:

Engage with policymakers, engage in discussions with decision makers on how to create supportive frameworks that enable ALE institutions to contribute to Europe’s sustainability goals.
Showcase SMALEI’s achievements, discover how the project’s resources can empower ALE institutions to become drivers of sustainable development.
Share best practices, learn from leading ALE organisations that have successfully implemented sustainable management and leadership models.

The event began with a welcome and introduction by Inge Gorostiaga Luzárraga, Director General for Digital Transformation and Advanced Learning of the Basque Government. She highlighted the transformative power of Adult Learning and Education to power a sustainable future. Additionally, she explained the sustainability plan of the vice-ministry, such as Tknika’s plan in collaboration with all the VET centers in the Basque Country to apply real, achievable and sustainable solutions for ecological and environmental challenges.

The first presentation, “Building Sustainability Competences: Insights on GreenComp, Upskilling & Lifelong Learning”, was delivered by Ulrike Pisiotis, an Education Expert on Learning for Sustainability and Policy Officer at the EU Commission’s Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport, and Culture:

She played a key role in the drafting of the GreenComp framework & Lifelong learning.
Since its launch in 2022, GreenComp has provided a reference model outlining sustainability competences that help learners think, plan, and act with empathy, responsibility, and care for the planet.
The framework is structured into four interrelated competence areas: acting for sustainability, embodying sustainability values, embracing complexity in sustainability, and envisioning a sustainable future.
Each area has some key competences, which are interrelated.

The following session, “Bringing Adult Education and Green Policies: Advancing the EU’s Sustainability Goals” was brought by Tatjana Babrauskienè, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) member and Head of International Relations at the Lithuanian Education and Science Trade Union:

The EU aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, with the EU Green Deal serving as the roadmap. Key EU initiatives include the European Green Deal, the European Skills Agenda, the New Skills Agenda for Europe, the Lifelong Learning Framework, and the Erasmus+ program.
Beyond skills, it is essential to instill the right values, which is why the SMALEI project was developed. It serves as a foundation for educators and learners on sustainability practices, green technology, and circular economy principles.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) facilitates dialogue among stakeholders to develop inclusive education policies that support the green transition.
Trade union perspective focuses on pushing for a just transition that ensures no worker is left behind and ensuring that trade unions are involved in shaping policies that impact workers’ green skills and employment.
Adult Learning and Education is the key to this transition.

The subsequent discussion, “SMALEI for You: Resources to Improve Sustainability in Adult Education Institutions”, was an in-depth session introducing the SMALEI Matrix, the Workbook, the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), and the Digital Academy:

Andre Bernert-Bürkle (Adult Education Association Baden-Württemberg), which includes 160 adult education centers, introduced the SMALEI Matrix, a powerful tool designed to inspire and support Adult Learning and Education institutions in developing and implementing both internal and external sustainability strategies. Initially focused on measuring the ecological footprint, SMALEI has evolved to drive sustainable actions, encouraging people to actively engage in sustainability efforts. The Matrix highlights five key areas where adult education holds influence:

Environmental sustainability within institutions
Engagement of learners
Awareness-raising and community involvement
Building partnerships for sustainability
Enhancing green skills among trainers and staff.

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More info about SMALEI’s Matrix: https://smalei.eu/matrix/

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August Nilsson (Glokala Folk High School), presented the workbook, a practical guide for utilizing the Sustainability Matrix. Designed as a resource for facilitators or process leaders, its goal is to actively engage people while integrating sustainability efforts into an institution’s existing operations and plans, fostering creativity and collaboration. The workbook guides its reader in 5 different phases:

Starting up by building a shared understanding.
Assessing the sustainability matrix current reality.
Developing ideas and planning actions.
Testing in practice or prototyping
Gathering outcomes & looking ahead.

Erdem Vardar (YUVA) introduced the Digital Academy, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) designed to promote sustainability in Adult Learning and Education institutions. The platform offers extensive content covering the SMALEI tools, along with other resources, including past webinars that can be rewatched, providing continuous learning opportunities for educators and institutions.

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Access SMALEI’s resources here: https://smalei.eu/resources/

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The event followed with the workshop The interactive workshop invited participants to reflect on their own sustainability efforts, evaluate their work and learn about SMALEI’s Mentorship work. They explored best practices, areas of expertise, challenges, and opportunities within their organizations across the five areas of the SMALEI Matrix. To conclude, participants were invited to check the mentorship guidelines to improve sustainability within participant’s organisations.

This was followed by a discussion on “SMALEI Policy Recommendations: Bridging the Gap between Politics and Adult Education,” presented by Leire Oreja from TKNIKA. “Policy recommendations are important for ALE institutions because they act as agents of change” she addressed, reflecting on the opportunity of achieving a systematic behavioural change at different levels, which can be achieved by a reflexive learning process that highlights the need of a green transition.

The event concluded with final reflections on project outcomes, the lessons learned and the future challenges to further support sustainable practices in Adult Learning and Education, delivered by Charlotte Ede (EAEA) and Karolina Pisz (NGO Trainers’ Association, STOP). The challenges discussed included alignment with other institutional priorities, the engagement of staff who already have other responsibilities, the ability to guide sustainability initiatives effectively, management of sustainability efforts, eco-anxiety, and the availability of resources needed to support these projects. In conclusion, the event emphasized the vital role that Adult Education and Learning plays in achieving a more sustainable future.

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Join SMALEI’s Green Adult Learning and Education Institution on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12848149/