GREEN4WORK: Why Green Skills Matter for Employability Today

The green transition is already shaping how work is organised across Europe. New regulations, sustainability targets, and changes in production are influencing what employers expect from their workforce. For many people, especially those who are currently unemployed, this shift raises a practical question: what skills are actually needed to stay employable?

GREEN4WORK is an Erasmus+ project that looks at this question from a very concrete angle. The project focuses on supporting unemployed adults to develop practical green and digital skills that are relevant across different sectors and realistic in everyday working contexts.

What do we mean by “green skills”?

Green skills are often associated only with environmental professions or technical roles. In reality, they are much broader.

They include the knowledge and abilities needed to work in ways that are more resource-efficient, environmentally responsible, and aligned with sustainability goals. These skills are increasingly expected in many jobs, including those in services, administration, logistics, manufacturing, and digital work.

In practice, green skills can involve:

• understanding sustainable workplace practices

• using resources more efficiently

• adapting to changing processes and standards

• applying digital tools that support greener ways of working

For many unemployed adults, green skills are not about changing careers entirely. They are often about updating existing experience so it remains relevant in a changing labour market.

The challenge: skills exist, but access is uneven

Across Europe, training opportunities related to sustainability already exist. The challenge is that many of them are difficult to access or poorly matched to the realities of adult learners.

People who are out of work often face:

• limited access to formal education

• long breaks from learning or training

• courses that are too theoretical

• qualifications that are hard to explain to employers

As a result, learning does not always translate into better job opportunities. GREEN4WORK addresses this gap by focusing not only on content, but also on learning formats, recognition, and usability.

How GREEN4WORK responds

GREEN4WORK brings together partners from several European countries to develop and test a learning approach that is:

• Practical, focusing on skills used in real workplaces

• Flexible, allowing learners to progress step by step

• Recognisable, through micro-credentials and digital badges

• Accessible, via an online learning platform

Instead of long courses that require significant time commitments, the project works with smaller learning units that can be combined over time and clearly communicated to employers.

Why micro-credentials and digital badges matter

For many adult learners, the key issue is not motivation, but recognition. People want to know whether what they learn will be understood and valued outside the training setting.

Micro-credentials are short, focused certifications that describe specific learning outcomes. They make it easier to show what someone can actually do, rather than simply listing course titles or hours attended.

Digital badges provide a visual and verifiable way to present these achievements online. They can be shared with employers, employment services, or professional networks, helping learners explain their skills with more confidence.

Within GREEN4WORK, micro-credentials and badges are not an extra feature. They are a core tool for linking learning to employability.

What will happen next

Over the next two years, the project will:

• introduce the partner organisations and their local contexts

• share insights on green skills and labour-market needs

• present the structure of the training curriculum

• pilot learning activities and reflect on what works in practice

• develop and test the online learning platform

Updates will focus on concrete progress and lessons learned, not just milestones.

Why follow GREEN4WORK?

GREEN4WORK is not about promoting a single model or solution. It is about exploring how green skills, adult learning, and employability can be connected in a way that is realistic and inclusive.

The project is relevant for:

• unemployed adults considering new learning pathways

• practitioners working in adult education or employment services

• organisations interested in green skills and workforce development

By sharing the process openly, GREEN4WORK aims to contribute practical insights that can be useful beyond the project itself.

References

European Commission. (2022). A European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability. Council Recommendation of 16 June 2022. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022H0627(02)

European Training Foundation. (2021). Green skills and the future of work. https://www.etf.europa.eu/en/what-we-do/green-skills

UNESCO. (2022). A global framework for micro-credentials. UNESCO Publishing. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000381668