Working hand-in hand with 13 schools in and universities in 4 EU countries ECF4CLIM has carried out:
- Co-designing our initial European Competence Framework (ECF)
For the initial ECF we drew upon a broad international crowdsourcing and an analysis of relevant scientific literature, other ECFs, policy frameworks, and national curricula. Our initial ECF is a living document, a roadmap designed to provide actionable knowledge and understanding on how to translate the normative and conceptual ideas into everyday practices of strengthening sustainability competences at schools and universities. The initial ECF went through a review by selected experts to confirm that our work was on the right track.
- Establishing the baseline of competences and environmental performance at our demonstration sites (DS)
Employing a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods (environmental KPIs, questionnaires, interviews, documentary analysis, and reconvened focus groups), the project established the initial state of play at schools and universities (our DSs) in terms of the individual and collective competences and environmental performance.
- The novel hybrid participatory approach: the SCTs and SCCs
ECF4clim employed a novel bottom-up, reflective, and deliberative approach to experiential learning, solidly rooted in the principles of participatory action research and those of the STAVE tool (
https://pachelbel.eu(opens in new window)). At each DS, we set up a Sustainability Competence Team (SCT) (for students, teachers and staff, separately) and a Sustainability Competence Committee (SCC) (including also the wider educational community). SCTs and SCCs meet up to six times each through the project. More than 1,000 representatives from our educational communities are actively reflecting upon the current state of sustainability competences, co-designing interventions to improve them, and evaluating the outcomes of the learning experience.
- Initial identification of interventions that foster the acquisition of competences
Drawing on the empirical evidence from the baseline assessment and the SCT/SCC 1 and 2, each demonstration site designed a tailor-made initial set of interventions to foster sustainability competences and climate action. The co-designed interventions include behavioural (e.g. changing habits, routines, social norms, organisational structures, etc.) and structural (e.g. small-scale retrofitting solutions, green spaces, green procurement procedures) measures. Out of 159, 73 interventions were selected for implementation.
- Implementation of practical, replicable and context-adapted interventions
Several monitoring mechanisms are in place to support the participatory implementation of our interventions: intervention templates (the research team, in close collaboration with the DSs, collects information on the interventions); monthly reporting; and SCT/SCC sessions 3 & 4 (to promote reflection on the interventions at each DS and gather initial evidence on the impact of the interventions on sustainability competences).
- Evaluation of the ability of the interventions to strengthen sustainability competences and environmental performance
The theory-based stakeholder evaluation will guide our evaluation approach by exploring the relationships between expected and observed relationships between policy interventions and competences.
Finally, to strengthen environmental awareness and foster engagement amongst citizens and the educational community, ECF4CLIM has developed and tested a digital platform. The tools will be updated and improved throughout the project.
