Sustainability Competence Framework in Europe – The GreenComp

The development of a European sustainability competence framework is one of the policy actions set out in the European Green Deal as a catalyst to promote learning on environmental sustainability in the European Union. GreenComp identifies a set of sustainability competences to feed into education programmes to help learners develop knowledge, skills and attitudes that promote ways to think, plan and act with empathy, responsibility, and care for our planet and for public health. This work began with a literature review and drew on several consultations with experts and stakeholders working in the field of sustainability education and lifelong learning.

The results presented in this report form a framework for learning for environmental sustainability that can be applied in any learning context. The report shares working definitions of sustainability and learning for environmental sustainability that forms the basis for the framework to build consensus and bridge the gap between experts and other stakeholders. GreenComp comprises four interrelated competence areas: (1) embodying sustainability values; (2) embracing complexity in sustainability; (3) envisioning sustainable futures; and (4) acting for sustainability. Each area comprises three competences that are interlinked and equally important. GreenComp is designed to be a non-prescriptive reference for learning schemes fostering sustainability as a competence.

GreenComp responds to the growing need for people to improve and develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes to live, work and act in a sustainable manner.

GreenComp is a reference framework for sustainability competences. It provides a common ground to learners and guidance to educators, providing a consensual definition of what sustainability as a competence entails. It is designed to support education and training programmes for lifelong learning. It is written for all learners, irrespective of their age and their education level and in any learning setting – formal, non-formal and informali. Sustain- ability competences can help learners become systemic and critical thinkers, as well as develop agency, and form a knowledge basis for everyone who cares about our planet’s present and future state.

The aim of GreenComp is to foster 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 is the result of a robust research methodology that has involved a large and diverse group of experts and stakeholders, to build a consensus on an agreed proposal. It provides a general reference model that everyone involved in lifelong learning can use to design learning opportunities aimed at developing sustainability competences and to assess progress in supporting education and training for sustainability.

GreenComp consists of 12 competences (in bold) organised into the four areas.

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