The sixth annual edition of the European Vocational Skills Week (16-20 May), dedicated to the green transition, culminated with celebrating the winners of the 2022 excellence awards for Vocational Education and Training (VET). The awards showcase talent, hard work and dedication of individuals and organisations to take VET to the next level.  

This year’s thematic focus in the European Social Fund category was ‘Upskilling/reskilling workforces for a fair green transition - green skills and jobs’.

And the winner is...

This year's winner winner is the Piedmont Regional Operating Authority for its ‘Training of food production operators’, a project with a heavy emphasis supporting a greener food chain. The association aims at promoting a culture of sustainability in the approach to food consumption, and to transfer this culture to the paths our young people take.

The project includes plant cultivation using two aeroponic growing systems and the application of innovative processing techniques along the agri-food chain.  It empowers young students to acquire a multitude of skills that can be applied in both their professional lives and personal growth - including plant production, sensory and qualitative analysis, primary and secondary processing and organic waste transformation. 

Honorable mention

La Bourrache, a Belgian not-for-profit organisation that started the started the J.O.B. Vert training programme in 2016, came in as runner up. This programme aims to upskill or reskill unemployed people between 18 and 24 years old by teaching them the basics of organic farming and landscape gardening.

The project works with young people with few or no qualifications.  Often, these individuals face extensive challenges including violence, addiction, social and financial insecurity. La Bourrache enables young people to inspire, emancipate, up/reskill within a small and personalised framework so that they’re able to take an active part in both the green transition and a career.

The EU promotes VET and green transition

The Commission is actively promoting vocational education and training as part of its work to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights, and specifically the right to education, training and lifelong learning. 

European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, said: ‘The green transition can become a real job engine if people have the right skillsets. The VET Excellence Awards help us identify the best approaches to become fit for the green economy, overcoming today’s labour shortages in key sectors such as construction, manufacturing and energy. I would like to congratulate the award winners and hope their actions will inspire many other actors in vocational education and training, apprentices and workers.’

Selection of the ESF Winners

To ensure excellence, the award nominations and votes follow a tough selection process. The first stage is a nomination by the ESF Managing Authorities in the Member States, which means that only one project can represent each country in the run up to the final selection. Following the national nominations a jury of independent experts comes forward with two only project semi-finalists. The two nominations are then put to online public vote, which has the same weight for the final selection of the award as the vote of the jury.

For more information on the awards and to see  the winners in all other categories visit the European Skills week pages.