A year into EDUS

According to the European Environment Agency (2025) “sustainability is about meeting the world’s needs of today and tomorrow by creating systems that allow us to live well and within the limits of our planet.” Recent political, economic and social crises relegate the importance of sustainability measures to a second plane, as they lose public support in Europe. 

Since EDUS started in January 2024, we have witnessed a global polycrisis which has highlighted the importance of individual actions for the collective good. As part of the project, we have developed the EDUS Framework in an attempt to introduce sustainability practices in VET. 

Figure 1. The EDUS Framework

The polycrisis begs the public’s attention to be devoted to countless emergencies in widely different spheres. The public support for institutional measures dedicated to sustainability is increasingly waning because many might be too frustrated or too overwhelmed to absorb, support, or act on sustainability policies. By training VET learners and teachers through th

e EDUS tools, the project helps individuals and future employers embody sustainable practices. This makes individuals responsible for the planet and the people living in it. 

What have we been up to?

The EDUS partnership is made up of experts in sustainable development, researchers and educators. The consortium’s proficiency is being reflected in the creation of the EDUS methodology for VET students and teachers. During the first year and a half of the project, the team produced the EDUS Framework through a structured desk analysis, followed by the design, implementation, and analysis of focus groups to gather diverse perspectives and insights of the framework. 

In November 2024, the partnership and a number of VET trainers travelled to Garðabær, Iceland, where they co-created the rest EDUS toolkit. This toolkit provides materials for VET teachers to develop sustainability competences in their lessons based on the EDUS Framework. The toolkit was then delved into deeper in an online transnational co-design lab in April, where international stakeholders helped create the EDUS Training Programme. The EDUS Training Programme is a methodology that englobes the EDUS Educational Toolkit. Both of these resources will be available very soon.

What is next in EDUS? 

Next month, at the end of September, the EDUS team and collaborating VET trainers will meet in Litija, Slovenia. After having co-created the EDUS toolkit, the aim of this trip is to test the educational materials with experts to ensure their effectiveness. 

In more exciting news, next month we will be releasing the EDUS Podcast! A series of 5 episodes that will be found in Spotify will be available to the public in September. 

Keep up with the EDUS project and our partners to know more!