The national and international targets for CO2 reductions are likely to be challenged by a severe lack of a competent workforce in Denmark and globally. The all-encompassing nature of the green transition challenges calls for a varied set of skills to supplement and enhance the traditional STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) competences.

To prevent this educational bubble from bursting, GreenEdTech launches innovative digital learning platforms, materials and educational models to equip 7th –10th grade students for authentic problem solving in collaboration with partners outside school.

Denmark is one of the most advanced countries in terms of sustainable solutions as well as the use of educational technology in elementary and lower secondary schools. The GreenEdTech partnership consists of state-of-the-art academic environments, and green businesses delivering crucial solutions to the green transition.

GreenEdTech will a) deliver a serious response to the urgent need for competent labour, while b) paving the way for a global commercial breakthrough of the Danish edtech industry.

Green transition of Education and Educational Technology (GreenEdTech) is a green research project led by Aalborg University. The project is about green transition in Danish schools. The aim of the project is to develop a digital learning space for Education for Sustainable Development based on a Citizen Science approach. Another goal is to increase students' motivation for choosing careers focusing on sustainable development. In addition to creating more green jobs, it is necessary to provide the students with a better understanding of the consequences of climate change and sustainable solutions. To do so, a new strong consortium has merged under the name GreenEdTech.

The GreenEdTech consortium consists of two academic institutions, Aalborg University and VIA University College, which lead research and interventions in test schools. The digital software developer, Exfluency, will lead the development of educational materials and the digital learning space on their platform in close collaboration with Center for Undervisningsmidler at Københavns Professionshøjskole. For the next 4 years, the partners will be working together in close collaboration with CONCITO, Green Hub Denmark, DI Digital, TOPSOE, Grundfos, Aarhus University and National Agency for IT and Learning.  

We are grateful for the large investment from Innovation Fund Denmark that enables GreenEdTech to bring Denmark closer to the climate target in 2030 and to develop new educational solutions.

Climate change mitigation is the most urgent political agenda both nationally and transnationally, and education is a core instrument to deal with these challenges. Developing sustainable education solutions that integrate digital learning prepares the ground for educating knowledgeable young people to be at the forefront of mitigating climate change and obtaining new green jobs. This project will strengthen the Danish knowledge and innovation within green educational technologies and thereby strengthen the Danish position in Europe and internationally. Denmark is a leader in green tech as well as within edtech.

GreenEdTech methodologically combines design-based research with surveys, competency assessments, observations of student learning activities, qualitative interviews, design workshops, iterative prototyping and user tests of learning platforms. Targets in the schools are grades 7-10 and the subjects danish, math and science. Over the span of 48 months, the project will develop new conceptual frameworks, design principles, digital platform, ESD content and assessment tools, and test the developments at large scale interventions at 15 schools in the various regions in Denmark.

The aim of GreenEdTech is to develop a platform for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) based on a Citizen Science (CS) approach. CS is defined as citizens and other societal actors’ solving complex problems in collaboration with scientists or professionals. Besides being a research method CS connects to teaching goals and learning how to become an active citizen. The project has four objectives:

1) ESD DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND EDUCATIONAL MODELS
GreenEdTech will develop research-and practice-based design principles and didactic models to facilitate the ESD transition in Danish schools.

2) ESD LEARNING PLATFORM AND MATERIALS
GreenEdTech will develop a learning platform and materials to enhance ESD in the teaching programmes of Danish schools. The ESD learning platform will make didactic models and learning materials (for the subjects Danish, Science and Math) available to all schools in Denmark. 

3) CS COLLABORATION BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND PRACTICE
GreenEdTech will support students in the acquisition of ESD competencies and skills through CS projects involving schools and organisations. CS projects addressing real-world problems, supporting authentic collaboration and increasing the contribution of education to building a more sustainable world.

4) ESD COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT TOOLS
The aim of the interventions is to increase ESD skills and competencies in practice. To assess ESD skill levels, the project will develop and test pioneering competency assessment tools.

The Development Phase
The development of the project is initiated with iterative cycles of developing theoretically informed and practice-oriented citizen science and educational sustainable development models and design principles as a framework that should guide the development of educational materials and learning platforms.

The Intervention Phase
During the intervention phase, the developed materials and the learning platform are first pilot tested with the reference group, and then progressed to interventions at 10 physical schools and five schools online in the various regions of Denmark and through the learning platform. As part of preparing schools for the interventions, teacher training workshops will be conducted. Moreover, Aalborg Universitet and VIA University College will offer modules in citizen science and educational sustainable development for professional training for head teachers.

The Data Analysis and Implementation Phase
The third phase of the project involves analysis of the collected data. The collected results are central in the final implementation of the developed learning platform, as platform elements and educational materials go through a final evaluation and redesign based on results from studies before a final implementation.