GreenComp, the European sustainability competence framework, is a conceptual tool defining the competences related to sustainability that was published at the beginning of 2022. It accompanied the Council recommendation on learning for the green transition and sustainable development.
GreenComp is a reference model for sustainability competences. It provides a common basis to learners and guidance to educators and institutions. It can be used by everyone involved in lifelong learning to design learning opportunities aimed at developing sustainability competences.
GreenComp fosters a sustainability mindset by helping users develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to think, plan and act with empathy, responsibility and care for our planet.
GreenComp consists of 12 competences organised into four 'areas': embodying sustainability values, embracing complexity in sustainability, envisioning sustainable futures, and acting for sustainability.
Applicable to learners all ages, education levels and settings, the 12 sustainability competences are interrelated, and should be treated as parts of a whole.
GreenComp has been the main inspiration behind Climate for All! At its core, the project is all about converting the framework into games to make it more digestible and fun. We then accompany the games with a workshop to help raise awareness of the competences tackled while playing. We follow up by guiding the players to plan local climate action in their own ecosystems, putting their competences to... play!
For each of our games, 1-3 specific competences were selected as a starting point, which the masterminds behind those games turned into game mechanics and thus came the Climate for All games!
- Access here the GreenComp report in 24 EU official languages
- Find a copy of the conceptual reference of GreenComp right here on this community
- Watch a presentation of GreenComp from when it was first published
- Watch a presentation of Climate for All and how it relates to GreenComp during the Education for Climate Day 2024
- Find our very own deck of GreenComp cards, which simplifies the framework and is a perfect accompaniment to a Climate for All workshop
- Join the GreenComp Community hosted by the Education for Climate Coalition
- We highly recommend registering on the Education for Climate Coalition, the European participatory education community to support the changes needed for a climate-neutral society
A nice tool released by another project, with a simple questionnaire that can help to assess your Green Competences: Assessment – Gamecomp
A very useful report evaluating the use of GreenComp for teaching sustainability in higher education! Check it out here: The GreenComp Evaluation Roadmap: a roadmap for in-depth holistic evaluation of the integration of the GreenComp framework in higher-education curricula | International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education | Emerald Publishing
It was just shared in the GreenComp Cafe taking place right now!
I've got a cool workshop on Greencomp, it includes creating anti-competent personas and lifting them up through a role-experience. Waiting to run it at some point!
GreenComp consists of 12 competences organised into the four areas below:
Embodying sustainability values, including the competences
- Valuing sustainability: To reflect on personal values; identify and explain how values vary among people and over time, while critically evaluating how they align with sustainability values.
- Supporting fairness: To support equity and justice for current and future generations and learn from previous generations for sustainability.
- Promoting nature: To acknowledge that humans are part of nature; and to respect the needs and rights of other species and of nature itself in order to restore and regenerate healthy and resilient ecosystems.
Embracing complexity in sustainability, including the competences
- Systems thinking: To approach a sustainability problem from all sides; to consider time, space and context in order to understand how elements interact within and between systems.
- Critical thinking: To assess information and arguments, identify assumptions, challenge the status quo, and reflect on how personal, social and cultural backgrounds influence thinking and conclusions.
- Problem framing: To formulate current or potential challenges as a sustainability problem in terms of difficulty, people involved, time and geographical scope, in order to identify suitable approaches to anticipating and preventing problems, and to mitigating and adapting to already existing problems.
Envisioning sustainable futures, including the competences
- Futures literacy: To envision alternative sustainable futures by imagining and developing alternative scenarios and identifying the steps needed to achieve a preferred sustainable future
- Adaptability: To manage transitions and challenges in complex sustainability situations and make decisions related to the future in the face of uncertainty, ambiguity and risk
- Exploratory thinking: To adopt a relational way of thinking by exploring and linking different disciplines, using creativity and experimentation with novel ideas or methods
Acting for sustainability, including the competences
- Political agency: To navigate the political system, identify political responsibility and accountability for unsustainable behaviour, and demand effective policies for sustainability
- Collective action: To act for change in collaboration with others
- Individual initiative: To identify own potential for sustainability and to actively contribute to improving prospects for the community and the planet
A deck of cards adapted from "The GreenComp Game: Sustainability Conversations" to fit the purposes of the Climate for All project. Use this deck if you are facilitating a Climate for All workshop!