Green practices in Erasmus+ projects
Main Info
TCA Description
Sustainability and green practices are one of the main horizontal priorities of the Erasmus+ programme. By this seminar we want to bring together participants from SCH and VET sector who are interested in sustainability and consider this to be an important topic and have already started or plan to adopt a sustainable approach towards their projects and/or institutions. The seminar will be a showcase of good practice examples of Erasmus+ KA2 projects that have deeper impact on individual as well as as organizational level. During the seminar participants can share their best practices, be inspired by others and network.
- good practice sharing
- exchanging ideas
- networking
The seminar will take place in Hotel Loft, Bratislava. National agency will cover accommodation for 2 nights from April 10, 2024. Any additional nights need to be covered by the participants (extra night including breakfast costs 129 € + 3,50 € city tax).
Preliminary programme:
Wednesday, April 10: start around 17:00 with opening and dinner
Thursday, April 11: full day programme, including a study visit, social event and dinner
Friday, April 12: half day programme ending with lunch around 13:00
Partners and participants
Seminar is open for applicants from SCH a VET sector (age of pupils from 10 years - lower secondary education). Applicants need to have either an ongoing KA2 project with green priority or plan to submit a proposal in Call 2024 or at least have some Erasmus project experience together with interest in green / sustainable topics.
Pending booked places
Accepted places
TCA Participant Application
Long-term Activity Info
The new programme generation Erasmus+ starts off in a challenging time.
Covid-19 is still dominating discussions on education, mobility and European
cooperation as well as accelerating the demand for smart digital solutions throughout
the European Union and its programmes.
Even though these issues still capture the attention (and time) of most
NAs, we are all finding our paths towards the so-called “new normal”. Part of
this new normality is to recollect and revive long-term goals as well as
introduce new ways to thrive in the upcoming future.
The important discussion on sustainability and greening Erasmus+ is one
that survived Covid-19 and even gained in relevance. Already before Covid-19,
it was announced that Erasmus+ will entail a new priority on sustainability. Therefore,
we as NAs are at the core when it comes to make sustainability a priority
within our organisations and to enable beneficiaries to engage into
transnational cooperation among each other to improve qualitative
implementation of the programme even further.
Nevertheless, the formal tie of sustainability and greening as a
priority in the Erasmus+ program is relatively new. In 2020 the horizontal
priority “environmental and climate goals” was introduced. However, other
already existing frameworks show that we can tackle the climate topic in a
holistic approach, namely sustainability.
The European Commission hopes to link the two topics – coronavirus and
the climate. It is proposing a €750 billion recovery package entitled “Next Generation EU”, with funds going towards the ecological
transformation of the economy – charging points, the renovation of buildings
and the hydrogen economy.
The European Commission also presented its industrial strategy in
connection with the Green Deal in March 2020. One of its focal areas is
decarbonising energy-intensive industry and establishing a hydrogen economy. The
aim is to produce the gas with the aid of renewable energy and use it to make
sectors such as steel production or heavy vehicle traffic more
climate-friendly. It also comprises a right to repairs, the recycling of
batteries, replacing disposable packaging with reusable alternatives, and
collecting and recycling more textiles and electrical appliances, or ensuring
that they last longer.
In March 2020, the European Commission presented a proposal for a new climate regulation as a central element of its Green Deal. This entails
the EU achieving net climate neutrality by 2050, meaning that climate gases may
still be emitted, but they must be offset elsewhere.
In April 2021, a deal on the European Climate Law has been reached,
making legal obligations of the goals stipulated by the European Green Deal to
create a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions
by at least 55% by 2030.
During its Presidency of the Council, Germany has taken up the
discussion on sustainability in education and research. The German federal government’s website provides details of its work. One of the main developments of Germany’s
council presidency is the Osnabrück Declaration, which defines vocational
education and training as an enabler of recovery and just transitions to
digital and green economies.
Sustainability should be a guiding
principle for all Erasmus+ projects
Future projects should be designed in an eco-friendly way and should
incorporate green practices in all its facets.
Organisations and participants should have an environmental-friendly
approach when designing the project, which will encourage everyone involved in
the project to discuss and learn about environmental issues, reflecting about
what can be done at different levels and help organisations and participants to
come up with alternative, greener ways to implement project activities.
The new programme aims to support, across all sectors, awareness-raising
about environmental and climate change challenges. Priority will be given to
projects aimed at developing competences in various sustainability-relevant fields,
developing green sectorial skills strategies and methodologies, as well as
future-oriented curricula that better meet the needs of individuals. The
programme supports the use of innovative practices to make learners, staff and
youth workers true factors of change (e.g. save resources, reduce energy use
and waste, compensate carbon footprint emissions, opt for sustainable food and
mobility choices, etc.).
- Increase of the (potential) impact of Erasmus projects regarding sustainability practices
- Development of a strategy to reach beneficiaries and encourage them to engage with sustainability
- Facilitation of exchange and discussion between beneficiaries to help them develop their own approach to green initiatives
- Communication of the benefits of working on sustainability at both the European and national levels to the Erasmus community
- Communication of the significance and urgency to act on climate change in all parts of society
- Creation of a common understanding of guiding principles in sustainability. (emissions, food produce, less resource use, less waste, more local produce, reproducing crops, less plastic, less use of pesticides..)
- See connected activities
The LTA sustainability aims at encouraging more potential programme participants to engage in mobility or projects to increase their knowledge on principles and models of sustainability, and to facilitate more national engagement in the long-term perspective. The LTA should create a space for shared insights and experience sharing on green initiatives. The participants of the activities in the framework of the LTA sustainability should also include experienced beneficiaries to share approaches and talk about their motivation to work on green initiatives. The LTA will focus on capacity building and green initiatives, especially in Education for Sustainable Development.