Circular economy skill development for working life

The project is implemented by the Business School and the Centre for Continuous Learning at the University of Eastern Finland, and it targets the regions of North Savo and North Karelia.

OBJECTIVES

The specific objective of the ESF/JTF project is a regional transition of the phasing out of peat. We want to develop Eastern Finland’s circular economy (CU) expertise together with companies in the region and create micro-credentials that meet the needs of companies and consider the requirements of studying alongside work.

The first objective is to create an overall picture of the competence needs related to circular economy working life and workplace needs in Eastern Finland. The next goal is to develop micro-credentials in circular economy (approximately 35 ECTS) and to implement education for the business life of Eastern Finland, considering local development needs.

The planning and implementation of education will consider the planned national framework/policy for micro-credentials based on the Council of the EU recommendation (2022/C 243/02) and the new concept of continuous learning.

TARGET GROUPS 

The target group consists of companies and organizations operating in North Savo and North Karelia that want to increase their personnel’s circular economy competence, strengthen RDI activities that support the sustainability transition and gain new business opportunities from the circular economy.

A special target group is people working in the peat sector or having left their operations. In addition, a broad target group includes all continuous learning students interested in developing their circular economy skills, both unemployed and those studying alongside work, as well as Finnish and foreign students at the University of Eastern Finland.

IMPLEMENTATION  

The project consists of the following work packages:

WP 1: Defining skills needs for the circular economy (4/2024–1/2025)
WP 2: Development of micro-credentials in circular economy (9/2024–7/2025)
WP 3: Piloting and evaluation of micro-credentials in CU (8/2025–5/2027)
WP 4: Webinar series on circular economy (9/2024–5/2027)
WP 5: Communication, interaction, and marketing (4/2024–5/2027)

During the project, we will pilot the courses, learning methods and study paths of the micro-credentials and test the compatibility of the studies with social and business studies.

We will build study paths tailored for different target groups for complementary studies in the competence areas of circular economy. We implement the study paths in UEF’s Open University offerings, degree education and continuing education at various levels. We will build all the project’s teaching and business cooperation measures in cooperation with business representatives, which will support the integration of education with the needs of renewal in working life.

The project continues, for example, the circular economy expertise developed in the CICAT2025 project implemented by the members of the working group, as well as the operating models of business cooperation developed in other projects at the level of individual study modules and study modules.

RESULTS  

As a result of the project, a flexible and modular circular economy micro-credentials will be launched for the UEF open university, continuing professional education and degree teaching. All training content is implemented in Finnish and English. The result will also be an open test measuring the needs of working life and the circular economy skills of individuals.

The project will provide businesses and citizens with a large amount of research-based up-to-date information on sustainable circular economy through multiple channels and in an accessible manner. It promotes the ability of counties to operate in national and global value chains and develops national and regional circular economy ecosystems. The project ensures that companies can respond to the new requirements brought about by the sustainability transition to develop the skills of the unemployed, young people and employees, as well as sustainable business and production.