Partners final meeting
As the Nordplus project “Green Skills for a Greener Life” (No. NPAD-2021/10011) has moved into the final stage of implementation the partners met in their last meeting on 18-20 January, 2023 in Palanga.
The main issues of the meeting were to discuss piloting results and necessary improvements for the training material and training program as well as to get acquinted with the partners’ developed good practice stories and assess their compliance with the quality criteria and accept common approach to good practice stories design. Another issue was – preparation of the final report and dissemination activities of the project results.
The partners introduced participants with the piloting process, involved trainees, the results and the suggestions for the improvements.
All partners reported that the implementation process of the program was made more practical passing information about green skills through practical activities. It was agreed that the themes included are very important and necessary, but the approach to the implementation should be as practical as possible – with workshops, masterclasses, study tours to enterprises that deal with waste management, etc. The partners also stressed that the trainees would like to see some practical examples of teachers’ work or videos from enterprises with examples of green skills development. As the solution to this request the partners prepare good practice stories and include additional resources into the project blog where the educational and informative resources will be collected.
The partners presented their good practice stories and the participants checked the quality of the developed video stories and if the material corresponds to the qulity criteria set in the previous project meeting. Common design elements were discussed (project logo, title, reference to music, etc) and checked. The good practice stories are made as video stories and also will be published .
Status Quo of the project results were discussed. The development of the training material is in its final stage – it will be in 4 languages and accessible through project blog and partners websites. Estonian partners have already published the material on school e-learning platform and is used by vocationla school teachers where appropriate. The partners discussed the project blog, how to organise the material in all 4 languages. There will be also resource part where additional resources will be collected for use.
Adult educators training in Lithuania
Courses for adult educators on the integration of green skills in adult education
In the Nordplus2021 project "Green Skills for a Greener Life" (No NPAD-2021/10011), specialists from Zemgale Region Human Resources and Competence Development centre in cooperation with specialists from the Education Centre of Šiauliai Municipality (Lithuania) and the Professional Education Centre of Valga (Estonia) have developed methodological material and a course programme for professionals involved in adult education to promote the integration of topical environmental education issues and green skills in adult education.
On 26 October, Zemgale Region Human Resources and Competence Development centre (ZRKAC) piloted the course "Transfer of Green Skills in Adult Education", which was attended by 20 specialists from Zemgale Region Human Resources and Competence Development centre, Jelgava and Dobele municipalities. Laima Kubliņa, representative of Ltd. "Zaļā josta" (Green Belt-eng.), presented green skills, what they are, how they are manifested both in everyday life and at work. "Being environmentally friendly means respecting our own quality of life. Caring for the environment is a sign of cultural intelligence," emphasised Ms Kubliņa.
Before the course, participants got acquinted with the developed materials and evaluated their own habits and actions in order to assess their attitude towards nature and resource conservation. During the course, participants had the opportunity to analyse examples of how to apply green skills in areas such as: housing, mobility, food, waste management, business. At the same time, when thinking about green skills, it is important to remember that it is not necessary to be perfect in all areas, it is enough to focus on one area.
Participants also learned about greenwashing, a situation in which buyers, business partners and other stakeholders are misled about their actions to reduce negative environmental impacts. It is important not only to be able to identify specific cases of greenwashing, but also to understand how the media influence public consciousness in the context of environmental issues in order to be able to critically evaluate content and be able to distinguish between objective and biased information.
In addition to the theoretical knowledge and the analysis of concrete situations in small groups, participants could take part in two masterclasses: making a healthy snack and creating a wax cloth to be used as an alternative for storing food, for example by wrapping a snack or a sandwich in it. After tasting the snacks, the participants could enjoy tea from the Eco Tea Tasting Room of the ZRKAC Green Library and discuss the ideas regarding education on ecological issues, preservation of nature and promotion of a greener lifestyle.
At the end, the participants discussed the methods of transferring and integrating green skills into the learning process and the re-use of recycled materials. Ideas from each group were presented and possible solutions discussed.
Preparing for piloting training material for adult educators
The partners of the Nordplus project “Green Skills for a Greener Life” (No. NPAD-2021/10011) in September 2022 met in Valga vocational training centre (Estonia) to discuss the next stage of the project- teacher training and piloting of the training material.
Since the previous meeting the partners were working on improving the English version of the training material, localisation and adaptation of the material to each county’s and institutions needs.
The main theme of the meeting was the organisation of the teacher training course with the aim to find the ways how to integrate green skills issues into adult non-formal education programs and into the operation of the institutions in general. Each team consisted of the teachers who will be involved in training organisation and programme delivery. Working in national groups the teams were planning the piloting process and the collection of good practice stories and afterwards shared their ideas with partners. Each partner has to prepare and share 2-3 good practice examples from teachers’ work that will be accessible to wider public through the project blog and institution’s websites.
A lot of discussions were devoted to quality assurance measures and feedback collection from the participants to see how the participants evaluate the developed material and training organisation.
The partners also had a great pleasure to get acquinted with the infrastructure of Valga vocational training centre where are a lot of ecological, environmetal- friendly solutions that lead to efficient work. One of the examples can be mentioned zero waste training process in woodwork classes when all the waste from wood is collected and briquettes for heating are produced.
Project partners meet in the 3rd project meeting
On April 12 and 13, 2022 the Nordplus project “Green Skills for a Greener Life” (No. NPAD-2021/10011) partners met in Šiauliai Municipal Education Center (Lithuania) for the 3rd project meeting.
Since October 2021 when the partners agreed upon the themes to be included into the material the partners have been working on the material development and the partners’ meeting was vital to get acquinted with each partners developed parts and ensure that the developed material corresponds to partners institutional needs as well as agree on necessary improvements to make the material ready for adaptation for national needs and use for the teacher training purposes.
On the first day of the meeting the partners presented the material and reviewed it according to the quality criteria to have a common approach. As one of the themes to be discussed with adult target groups is about food – use of seasonal products, food waste and excessive consumption in the afternoon the participants hade a possibility to be present at a workshop and learn practical advice on sustainable and healthy nutrition for adult audience "Rainbow in my plate".
At the end of the day the partners discussed the ideas regarding the piloting process that is scheduled for autumn 2022.
On the second day the participants learned about the experience of Šauliai City Municipality on environmental education as good practice examples and the application of outdoor education methods for adult target groups.
In Šiauliai Center for Young Naturalists the participants learned how love of nature, responsibility for their actions is being taught already from childhood. The most important idea that should not be lost during all our life is to live in harmony with the environment and not to destroy it.
Project "Green skills for a greener life" partners meeting
On September 23 and 24, Zemgale Region Competence Development Center (ZRKAC) hosted the first meeting of the Nordplus project “Green Skills for a Greener Life” (No. NPAD-2021/10011) with the participation of colleagues from Siauliai Municipal Education Center (Lithuania) and Valga Vocational Education Center (Estonia). On the first day of the meeting - September 23, ZRKAC introduced the project partners to the activities of the center, offering an excursion and providing insight into the daily work of the organization, implemented programs, etc. The Siauliai Municipal Education Center and the Valga Vocational Education Center also presented the profile of their institution to the other project partners, telling about the specific features that make them unique. The partrners discussed the project management issues and what partners expectations and needs are regarding the project theme. On the second day of the meeting, September 24, the project partners discussed how to better integrate green skills into adult education, what could be eco-innovation, how to match the themes with their needs and opportunities and discussed the framework of the material to develop and how to implement the goal of promoting environmental education by integrating the issues and green skills into adult education. It was agreed to develop the green skills through the following topics - home, work, other public places, transport, food, cooperation, civic activity, media literacy, information literacy. Each partner country selected topics for further elaboration. It was decided to organize the next project meeting in a remote way in November to discuss and make proposals for the material developed. The project “Green Skills for a Greener Life” (No. NPAD-2021/10011) has been supported for the implementation by the Nordic Council of Ministers' Education Cooperation Program Nordplus 2021 project competition in the adult education sector.
