Welcome to the TRAINING SECTION!
In its 2020-2021 work programme, the ETUI Education Department announced the adoption of a sustainability competence framework approach guiding trade union training on the subject. This sustainability or ‘green’ competence framework refers to a set of competences which empowers learners to embody sustainability values, and embrace complex systems, in order to take or request action that restores and maintains ecosystem health and enhances justice, generating visions for sustainable futures.
At the origin of ETUI's green competence framework approach was a group work initiated by French universities and coordinated by Prof. Didier Mulnet from the University of Clermont-Auvergne, with the participation of social partners and student organisations.
This group work produced a competence framework based on five meta-competences. Meta-competences “are ‘overarching’ competencies that are relevant to a wide range of work settings and which facilitate adaptation and flexibility on the part of the organization”
The ETUI faced the challenge of adapting these abstract meta-competences to a workplace context and workforce concerns, bearing in mind the underlying question: how can we live and work sustainably?
To address this question, the meaning of these competences was agreed as follows:
ETHICS & RESPONSIBILITY
means the ability to act in accordance with ethical values. This means caring for current and future generations of workers in a carbon-neutral economy.
SYSTEMIC competence
means a holistic approach when dealing with sustainability issues. It involves analysing environmental problems from the perspectives of different players, such as trade unions, employers, governments, local communities or investors. It also means ensuring that decisions taken in favour of some workers do not adversely affect others.
PROSPECTIVE competence
means the ability to prepare for the future by anticipating new scenarios and narratives expanding the role of trade unions – and ultimately that of workers – in a world characterised by uncertainty.
Competence in terms of CHANGE
means the ability to identify and analyse strong and weak signals of change due to sustainability development challenges and their impacts on workers.
COLLECTIVE competence
refers to the ability of trade unions to cooperate with each other and other social players. In other words, this competence involves showing solidarity within and beyond the trade movement, building alliances with civil society.
