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Our 3rd and Final Online Workshop

On Monday, 28 April 2025, the GreenVET community came together online for its third and final workshop, and what unfolded was nothing short of inspiring. VET schools from across Europe (Germany, Latvia, Slovenia, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus) as well as Egypt gathered virtually to celebrate their collective progress toward sustainability and showcase their achievements in connection with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The energy in the digital room was palpable as each school took the spotlight to present their good practices, which they had been developing over the past months. These short, impactful three-minute presentations provided a vibrant mosaic of ideas, strategies, and results. From creative recycling campaigns and green innovation in vocational curricula to student-led initiatives promoting biodiversity and energy-saving, the diversity of approaches demonstrated the adaptability and creativity of our GreenVET teams and Community of Practice.

During the 3rd online workshop, schools showcased an impressive range of sustainability initiatives, reflecting creativity, collaboration, and deep engagement with the SDGs. From reducing food waste by weighing daily cafeteria leftovers to integrating the Zero Waste philosophy in Culinary Arts training, students were at the heart of practical learning. Many explored renewable energy—from measuring rooftop solar potential to partnering on solar panel installations—while others tackled climate awareness through projects like Warm Sweater Day and aeroponics experiments with selenium-enriched lettuce. Several schools turned their campuses into green laboratories, building Hugelkultur beds from kitchen scraps, managing traditional apple orchards as outdoor classrooms, and cultivating rooftop herb gardens. Social impact was also a strong theme: students prepared meals for vulnerable groups, organized charity events and clothing swaps, and promoted conscious consumption through waste separation in dormitories and biodiesel production from used cooking oil. Whether through environmental science, agriculture, or cross-departmental collaboration, these projects showed how VET education can drive meaningful change—and how young people can lead the way in building sustainable futures.

Participants didn’t just watch passively. The workshop was designed to be highly interactive, with discussions and reflections woven into the agenda. Attendees were encouraged to comment on one another’s projects, share implementation challenges, and explore how different strategies might work in their own contexts. These exchanges were thoughtful and lively, adding a real sense of community spirit and mutual learning.

The session concluded with a reminder of the project’s deliverables, the GreenVET Framework, titled “Green Futures: Navigating Sustainability in Vocational Education and Training”, as well as the GreenVET database containing diverse material such as newspaper articles and policy papers.

The GreenVET project team extends its heartfelt thanks to all participating VET schools and their dedicated members for their enthusiasm, thorough preparation, and unwavering commitment. Your active involvement and collaboration have been instrumental in shaping our Community of Practice into a vibrant and successful initiative. Together, we are not only exchanging knowledge but also making vocational education and training more sustainable—one meaningful step at a time.

As the workshops have come to a close, one thing is clear: our little community is not just imagining a greener future, it is actively shaping it.