Skills for Sustainable Development: Vocational Education and Training Beyond 2015

The new sustainable development agenda post-2015 highlights additional challenges for VET in development theory, policy and practice through its recognition of poverty as the single greatest global challenge facing sustainable... [ view full abstract ]

The new sustainable development agenda post-2015 highlights additional challenges for VET in development theory, policy and practice through its recognition of poverty as the single greatest global challenge facing sustainable development. However, we highlight the tension that is at the heart of the SDG notion of sustainable development, and much of the sustainable development agenda: that sustainability and neoliberalism go hand in hand. Focusing particularly on VET, we question the drive towards green skills for green growth that is the preferred discourse of many powerful development actors.
Instead, we locate our discussion with a broader movement that is seeking to shift the VET community away from narrow notions of employability. We argue that a stronger focus on green skills should be seen, at best, as a first step towards a deeper notion of skills for sustainable development. Skills that contribute to sustainability are economic and societal as well as environmental. This involves building skills for work and life that contribute to poverty alleviation through the sustainability of families, communities and the planet, at least as much as those that promote productivity and the greening of economies. It also requires thinking about skills that help individuals and communities leave poverty behind without undermining the prospects of future generations.