Title
A green design for a sustainable future - Green jobs’ roots: green entrepreneurship and eco-innovation
Short description/ main idea
This educational scenario relies on two pillars. One aspect is career education and guidance which is introduced in Greek public high school as a self orientation and decision skill’s development course in secondary education. On the other pillar the study and analysis of complex scientific, technological, social, legal and economic issues that deal with emerging environmental problems (energy, waste management, construction sector ecological footprint, climate change etc) must be consider in an holistic view as a nexus. Only this way problems and challenges induced by human impact and development can be turned with the right entrepreneurial skills (e.g. soft skills such as persistence, critical/strategic thinking, work in a group/self reliant, communicate ideas or research effectively and hard skills such as business planning or managerial skills) into business opportunities by responding appropriately to these problems. In the process of the greening of the economy some new jobs emerge providing a diversification of economic activities and income. Pupils are not familiar with the majority of green jobs (they think that are limited from planting a tree or in the best case to recycling or renewable energy), and are unfamiliar to green skills[1]. Pupils also develop in some extend green skills in this project, skills that now are valued of equal importance that digital literacy had twenty years ago. According to International Labor Organization (ILO), «these right (green) skills for green jobs are the prerequisite to make the transition to a greener economy happen».
Connections with the curriculum (cross-curricular and interdisciplinary)
The main idea of this scenario is to sensitizing pupils during career education on green business opportunities in a way that they may in the future consider venturing into green entrepreneurship. Connections of this project can be found however with many different courses given in the greek junior - high school. Pupils must learn in Geography how to describe the absolute and relative location of a place (firms and companies in this scenario). A Technology course is also studied in the junior high-school where pupils are often taking active roles such as managers or employees of a virtual enterprise. The connections and differences which define meanings between entrepreneurial terms and concepts such as (a) innovation and invention, (b) risk and business opportunity and (c) marketing and consumer needs can be taught in an English as a foreign language class and the sustainable development term can be explained by discussing several different extracts from Aristotle's Politics (Greek Πολιτικά) a work of political philosophy during an ancient Greek lesson. In a Computer science class calculations of income statements, balance sheet reports together with the contribution of an enterprise to CO2 emissions is made by an excel spreadsheet. Environmental education which focuses on human impacts to the environment and our personal responsibility to pass the planet on to future generations in no worse condition it received in, by actions (which could be integrated into core business) and environmental awareness is promoted among the pupils. School activities for environmental education projects are also incorporated into the greek high school curriculum and lasts at least five months. Therefore a subject of such an interdisciplinary course applies not only to pupils enrolled in the Life Sciences or Technology but in Social Sciences and Humanities as well, it is suitable for junior high school pupils but it can suit and in higher educational stages. Some of the activities described below were conducted in a career orientation project in 2012-2013 school year in the 7th Public Junior - High School of Heraklion Crete.
[1] Specific skills that according to OECD(2010) are required to adapt products, services or operations due to climate/environmental change adjustments, requirements or regulations (for example water purification and site remediation planning/engineering in mining, solar panels installation, wind turbines design, green management, carbon capture and storage techniques).