Abstract:

Arts and crafts have emerged as key drivers of the EU’s sustainable development strategy, thanks to their significant potential for social and cultural innovation. Education plays a crucial role in this context by imparting knowledge, skills, and values that foster responsible practices. Green initiatives, eco-design, and sustainable design emphasize a new set of skills tailored to addressing specific environmental challenges.

However, this potential remains largely underutilized. This study aims to address this gap by examining how vocational education and related practices can broaden our understanding of environmental sustainability within the arts and crafts sector.

The study was carried out as part of the MOSAIC project – Mastering job-Oriented Skills in Arts & Crafts through Inclusive Centres of Vocational Excellence – an Erasmus+ initiative that examines how arts and crafts can better address emerging needs and societal changes. Adopting a practice-led approach, the study connects the macro-level context (such as legal frameworks) with micro-level perspectives from stakeholders like VET centers and craft/design businesses, offering insights into how best practices take shape.

One of the main outputs of this study is a framework that provides an organised manner of understanding best practices inside VET education that helps us to think about the future of eco-responsible education and skill creation. The study shows that both green laws and innovative best practices inside the industry will continue to shape new visions around sustainability in arts and crafts education. It also identifies several directions in which green practices are expected to evolve: a better integration of the environmental curriculum, industry-training adapted to real work needs, green skills development beyond materialistic determinism, hands-on green training, new forms of recognitions and certifications, flexible and tailored lifelong learning opportunities, the integration of new technologies into environmental training and green innovations driven by multi- and transdisciplinary collaborations.

In conclusion, the study highlights how concepts such as responsible design, eco-innovation, and research-driven interventions are shaping a long-term vision of sustainability, influencing practitioners, educators, and policymakers alike.

Keywords:

Sustainability, VET centres, Arts and Crafts.