CREATING ALIGNED STUDIES IN RESOURCE EFFICIENCY AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION.

Both in the Central Baltic (CB) countries and Russia, there is a need to develop current education regarding resource efficiency, which is a relatively new and complex issue. The aim of the paper is to present the results of the two parallel twinning international projects "CREA-RE" (Creating aligned studies in Resource Efficiency) and "CREA-RE-RU" (Creating aligned studies in Resource Efficiency in Sweden and Russia), which has been realized from 2018 to 2020. The main goal of the projects was to produceup-to-date aligned training materials for the higher vocational education training (VET) institutions around the CB and enhance cooperation between companies and higher VET. The project promoted the mainstreaming process in the region and best practices through addressing companies and future workers, i.e. students. The overall objective has been achieved through 1) Aligning and producing learning content to be used in higher environmental VET studies; 2) Producing a channel to share aligned materials; 3) Implementing joint innovative cooperation between companies and higher VET to ensure better matching of work opportunities in sustainable business. The activities enabled the creation of a holistic view of students and companies in the theme of resource efficiency and circular economy. Based on different know-how of the partners on the relatively new and complex issues within the theme of resource efficiency and circular economy, the project created aligned e-learning material with a new perspective in the area. Joint practice-oriented case studies promoted companies’ awareness on resource efficiency and enhance their competitiveness, meanwhile enable institutions’ better understanding of the needs in the working life. New information produces a competent labor force to support the integration of the CB labor market, also including Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]