The SET project team is happy to announce the publication of its desk research to the EAIE 2025 Winter Forum 2025 on Skill-building for the future! Francesca Pengo and Salome Dermati, EUF, co-authored an article titled “Skills in Transition: Preparing Students for a Greener Future”.
The main research question sought to investigate the overlap among soft skills, the green transition, and the future of employability in the European context. Universities are increasingly challenged to prepare students by integrating technical expertise with the transversal competencies required for living and working in a globally interconnected society. At the same time, as environmental sustainability solidifies as a central policy priority, students are expected to possess new skills to remain employable in a greening labour market. The findings reveal that sustainability is no longer a specialised field, and green skills also include transversal competencies such as adaptability, collaboration, problem-solving, and environmental policy awareness. By fostering non-formal and informal learning opportunities and enhancing mechanisms for skills recognition, higher education can play a pivotal role in shaping a workforce equipped for the green transition.
The article was based on previous desk research, “Green skills and the future of employability: Aligning higher education with labour market demands,” which can be found here.