The transition to Circular Economy (CE) is an essential contribution to the EU efforts of developing a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy (Closing the loop - An EU action plan for the CE, 2015). Such a transition represents the opportunity to transform our economy, generate green jobs and build up sustainable competitive advantages for Europe. This project aims to fill a gap in Vocational Education and Training (VETI programmes dealing with zero waste and circular economy. Skills and competences for Zero Waste and Circular Economy (ZW&CE) are becoming extremely important. In Europe, we are using per person 16 t/a (tons per year) of material, of which 5 t/a become waste. Although waste management continues to improve, the EU economy still loses a significant fraction of potential 'secondary raw materials' in waste streams. The CE package, adopted by the Commission in 2015, has created an important momentum to support the transition towards a more CE in the EU. CE gained more significance in 2018 when the new CE Action Plan and a series of more restrictive waste and product policies have been adopted (eg, plastic policy). Transition to CE may only be successful if the corresponding awareness, competences and skills are deeply embedded in the knowledge and daily routine of EU professionals and companies and from this perspective VET education for ZW&CE is critical.

The primary goal of EduZWaCE Strategic Partnerships is to supporting exchange of good practices, enabling stakeholders to deepen and spread out knowledge, develop and reinforce networks, increase their capacity to operate at transnational level, and share and confront ideas, practices and methods. The project aims to create new VET programmes dealing with waste and circular economy, and focuses on developing the interdisciplinary skills needed for the jobs of the future that are tailor-made for the needs of the employers/SM Es.

With this project we would like to build up a common approach for VET Teachers and learners across EU to respond to the requirements of the future and flexible job market.

The project will focus on the following specific objectives:
• Develop partnerships amongst educators, businesses and stakeholders with the purpose of supporting VET learners in acquiring and developing skills and key competences in CE and foster employability
• Facilitate recognition and validation of competences for new jobs: the ZW&CE Manager and the ZW&CE Technician, by building two Skill Card Sets, structured in accordance with the standards and designed based on the ECVET requirements.
• Make education in ZW&CE available for all, by setting the EduZWaCE as an Open Education Resource (OER)

The first Newsletter of the Eduzwace project are now available in digital form to be downloaded from our website, in all languages of the partner countries. You can also subscribe and receive updates and the following newsletters of the Eduzwave project from our website.

The first Newsletter of the Eduzwace project are now available in digital form to be downloaded from our website, in all languages of the partner countries. You can also subscribe and receive updates and the following newsletters of the Eduzwave project from our website.