TVET leaders ready to take action for a green transition

UNESCO-UNEVOC held a virtual graduation ceremony on 22 March in recognition of the over 100 participants that joined its recent TVET Leadership Programme. The four-month long online programme sought to address the knowledge gaps on system-level change by raising awareness and developing the capacities of TVET professionals to mainstream approaches that contribute to the green transition in their institutions.

The UNESCO-UNEVOC TVET Leadership Programme was launched in 2016 and aims to build the capacity of TVET leaders and professionals from around the world, as well as support them to become successful and effective agents of change in their institutions and beyond. The 2022 edition focused on ‘Re‐thinking TVET systems and programmes to anticipate demand, adapt and take action for a just and green transition.’ Knowledge and practical components were delivered in four modules designed to focus on concepts, tools, methods and practices and application.

More than 140 TVET leaders and managers from 61 countries had the opportunity to expand their knowledge of the concepts and trends impacting the labour market and society, the tools that can support TVET leaders in re-thinking their current practices and systems, and the opportunities to adopt new measures for boosting TVET’s contribution to the green transition. The programme offered self-paced learning modules on emerging topics for the green transition, including energy efficiency, circular economy and green skills anticipation. It also offered facilitated webinars as learning scaffolds to support leaders and managers in active learning approaches targeted at identifying greening opportunities to transform their programmes, institutions and systems.

At the end of the programme, participants developed their own theory of change as starting points to contextualize the process of greening their respective systems, institutions and programmes. The participants came from ministries, national TVET authorities, international and regional development organizations, NGOs, private companies, TVET colleges, universities and research institutions, which represented diverse entry points to green TVET.

In his opening remarks at the graduation ceremony, Friedrich Huebler, Head of UNESCO-UNEVOC, underscored the significance of leadership in the green transition, transformation of TVET systems and the creation of green jobs. He congratulated the participants for the effort they put into completing the programme and he expressed his appreciation to the representatives of the German federal ministries for their continuous support of UNESCO-UNEVOC and its flagship TVET Leadership Programme.

Birte Ifang, Senior Policy Officer at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), shared an international perspective of the green transition in her remarks. She noted that TVET is a lever for a just transition to a green economy from an economic and individual perspective, and that BMZ supports skills development for a green economy bilaterally and multilaterally.

Peter Thiele, Head of Division at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), observed that although all programme participants and stakeholders come from different angles and different starting points in relation to development and systems, nevertheless the challenges are the same, particularly in the case of the green transition and the responses of TVET.

Now that the programme has concluded, graduates are expected to work towards mainstreaming the green transition at their institutions, with the support of UNESCO-UNEVOC. Olivier Pieume, Team Leader of the UNEVOC Network Secretariat, elaborated on how UNESCO-UNEVOC can assist the institutions in their day-to-day work on greening TVET. He also emphasized the different ways in which the participants can develop partnerships and collaboration at the regional and international level, especially within the UNEVOC Network.

Borhene Chakroun, the Director of Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems at UNESCO HQ in Paris, wrapped up the ceremony by highlighting the links between the green transition and the new UNESCO Strategy for TVET (2022-2029), particularly Main Line of Action 2, which seeks to ‘develop skills for inclusive and sustainable economies’. Mr Chakroun asserted the need to reinforce the resilience and scale of the programme and monitor its impact on TVET practices and leadership in different countries, underlined by the values of multilateralism, cooperation and solidarity, and ensuring that no one is left behind.

The 2022 TLP was designed by UNESCO-UNEVOC’s SDG and Greening TVET team, jointly implemented with the UNEVOC Network Secretariat and co-facilitated by OneWorld.

UNESCO-UNEVOC conveys its appreciation for the collaboration and technical contributions of partners, including ILO, European Training Foundation, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, Omnia Finland, University of Witwatersrand South Africa, University of Massachusetts – Lowell, and Circle Economy. Various experts from Canada, India and South Africa also contributed to the programme.

The graduates of the UNESCO-UNEVOC TVET Leadership Programme 2022 join an alumni network of 650 TVET leaders, managers and staff from more than 95 countries.

View graduation ceremony