Introduction

In a short video by the European Commission, the Green Deal is called Europe’s new growth strategy by Ursula von  der Layen, President of the European Commission, who says: “I want Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent in the world by 2050.”

President Van der Layen also stressed the importance of citizen participation for  proper policy definition and implementation.

However, the video has a fundamental lack, that is the emotional involvement of citizens, speaking instead only of growth and money. The video seems to be oriented only to industries and businesses without a real intervention on the behavioral change of citizens.

Success in understanding the many variables of climate change and how they can be modified through behavioral change must be driven through multidisciplinary action.

They need to be engaged who are allowed to feel like a crucial actor in the required changes, understand why those changes are required, and achieve those changes emotionally.

Empathy is a key aspect of finding solutions to social and global problems.

Summary

iGreenScent - Smart Citizen Education for a Green Future aims to change citizens' behaviors allowing them to be the ones who act to implement the policies of the European Commission in the context of the Green Deal. The behavioral change of citizens through the stimulation of their empathy for social and global issues due to climate change is fundamental for the achievement of the objectives set by GreenScent and, more broadly, by the European Commission in the context of the Green Deal and the achievement, on the part of the European Continent, of Climate Neutrality by 2050.

Description

The GreenScent project follows the call for proposals of the European Commission, within the program of the Directorate-General for Research, Horizon 2020: "Enabling citizens to act on climate change, for sustainable development and environmental protection through education, citizen science, observation initiatives and civic engage,ment". GreenScent follows the sub-theme: "Enabling citizens to act on climate change and sustainable development through education”

Objectives

SCENT's main objective is to support Green Deal policy implementation involving EU citizens, and  especially youth, in co-creating, experimenting and validating a Multidisciplinary European Competence  Framework (GreenComp) covering the main thematic areas of the EU Green Deal, fostering its acceptance  and adoption with a participatory multi-stakeholder approach, and measuring its efficacy in terms of  awareness, competences and implicit attitudes, key factors for a real behavioural change.

GreenScent is based on six pillars and seven "smart" objectives:

Pillars:

1. Citizen engagement is a driver for change
2. Active experimentation will lead to better understanding and adoption
3. European Youths are crucial for addressing climate and environmental challenges
4. Vulnerable groups must be involved and taken into consideration in this process
5. GreenComp must be both acceptable and adoptable
6. Competences needed go beyond climate and environment

Smart Objectives:

1. Develop and test the GreenComp Competence Framework with a fully participatory multi-stakeholder approach (WP1).

2. Break existing stereotypes, transform skeptic attitudes, and increase awareness of citizens, pupils, students and society at large through education and experimentation by using inclusive and accessible citizen science and co-creation approaches (WP2).

3. Ensure that digital competences are part of the GreenComp Competence Framework demonstrating the link between the Green and the Digital transition (WP3).

4. Facilitate the adoption of the GreenComp Framework by co-creating with experts, teachers and students training kits, user guides and use cases needed for course design, curriculum definition and creation of a Certification on Green Deal topics (WP4).

5. Demonstrate the value of the GreenComp Framework by piloting a set of digital and analogue demonstrator activities in real scenarios through a network involving schools, civic organisations and PAs in at least 6 different countries (WP5).

6. Maximise the reach and impact of the GreenComp and other relevant outcomes of the project through, outreach, specialised dissemination, Clustering and Exploitation activities (WP6)

7. Guarantee the overall short-medium term impact of the project (WP6)

UNINETTUNO Role

Uninettuno International Telematic University is the coordinator of the GreenScent project.

Uninettuno will have a role in each of the 7 Work Packages and will be the leader of the following Work Packages:

1. Work Package 1: "GreenComp" Competence Framework.
2. Work Package 7: Coordination and Management.

In these two Work Packages Uninettuno will be involved for the entire duration of the project for a total of 53 months of work.

Uninettuno will be involved for the entire duration of the project in WP2, WP3, WP4, WP5, WP6 as a partner, for a total of 85 months of work.

Partners