Abstract:

The Green Deal, the European Commission's plan to work towards a climate-neutral society, is expected to transform the European Union (EU) into a resource-efficient and competitive economy. The plan outlines that digital technologies are a critical enabler to meet EU sustainability goals. Similarly, the new industrial and digital strategy, Shaping Europe’s Digital Future, reflects the necessity to deploy new technologies to enable this change.

Accelerating the twin transitions - green and digital - will not only require new technologies but will also rely on a reskilled workforce. The European Skills Agenda and the Council Recommendation on Vocational Education and Training (VET) have already expressed the necessity to update current VET programs to meet industry needs in digital and green skills, while introducing innovative learning and teaching methodologies simultaneously.

In this context, this necessity has become a key issue in fragmented and traditional industry sectors, such as the textile and furniture, as highlighted in the “Small Medium Enterprise (SME) strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe”. Europe has strong traditional manufacturing industries that were not born digital, nor adapted to a green economy. The twin transition of these industries will, therefore, require a significant investment in innovation while simultaneously reskilling its workforce to ensure a successful transformation.

Hence, in the framework of the TwinRevolution project, co-financed by the Erasmus+ program, innovative VET resources were developed to address knowledge gaps for a twin transition in the furniture and textile sectors. Firstly, desk research covering the technical and training state of the art and industry needs was conducted. Secondly, a Joint Curriculum for a VET course was defined, defining the necessary knowledge and skills for implementing practices for a twin transition.

As a final result, a completed training course and additional training resources were developed for current and future professionals in the furniture and textile sectors, enabling them to increase their knowledge of circular economy and Industry 4.0 practices and how to implement them.

Keywords:

Twin transition, circular economy, industry 4.0, vocational education and training, joint curriculum, furniture, textile, skills.