CIRCVET : presentation of the european project

Publication date: 05-03-2025

CIRCVET - Circular Economy practical training materials for plastics manufacturing industries, an Erasmus+ project financed by the European Commission, is a very interesting and important international initiative focused on promoting Circular Economy (CE) practices within the European plastics industry.

The project is composed by 12 partners from all over Europe. From Spain, AIJU (Instituto Tecnológico de Producto Infantil y Ocio, Coordinator) and Universidad de las Palmas de Gran Canaria; from Lithuania, LINPRA Cluster (Lietuvos inzinerines pramones asociacija), VPM (Visagino technologijos ir verslo profesinio mokymo centras) and Aprc (Alytaus profesinio rengimo centras); from Germany, Kunststoff Institut Ludenscheid; from France, Polymeris and Infinitivity Design Lab; from Italy, Università di Trento, HIT (Fondazione Hub Innovazione Trentino) and Proplast Cluster; and finally, from Portugal, CENTIMFE Cluster.

CIRCVET combines all the competences and knowledge required to deploy the project and obtain the best results:

5 partners (AIJU, CENTIMFE, PROPLAST, POLYMERIS, LINPRA) represent the SMEs in the sector, being SMEs associations / clusters. 2 of them are also research centres (CENTIMFE, PROPLAST) supporting innovation at the same time.
5 partners (KIMW-Q, ULPGC, UNITRENTO, APRC, VPM) representing the educational and training sector, either as Universities or Professional or VET centres.
1 partner (IDL) has the technical competences, expertise, and experience to design and deploy the ICT resources.
1 partner (HIT) represents innovation in business models and entrepreneurship, key aspects for the transition into a Circular Economy model.

CIRCVET consortium has collected the interest of a series of entities that are willing already to participate in the activities: MESAP Cluster, ATIM Cluster, Cassa Edile di Mutualità e Assistenza Interprovinciale del Veneto and Mancomunidad del Norte de Gran Canaria.

The goals of the project are:

Develop the most comprehensive, free, and customized training program on CE for plastics in Europe.
Address specific needs and challenges faced by companies in the plastics sector.
Foster collaboration between various stakeholders, including universities, vocational training centres, research institutions, industry clusters, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Train individuals with the necessary “green” skills to contribute to a more sustainable and resource-efficient society.

Key Aspects:

Focus on practical training tailored to real-world industry needs
Alliance of diverse stakeholders with expertise in different areas
Emphasis on developing essential “green” skills for a sustainable future

1) What specific modules or topics will be covered in the training program?

General Circular Economy
Eco-design and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Digital skills
Recycling, Upcycling, and Downcycling
Manufacturing processes
User and usage
Recovery
Entrepreneurship

Training Course:

Approach: Personalized training based on individual needs assessment.
Steps:

Personalized Course Definition: a customized course has been created, combining relevant information and training modules.
Course Delivery: each module is delivered as a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), and the applicant's progress is evaluated.
Variety of formats: use of a mix of text, images, videos, quizzes, and interactive elements to engage learners.
Interactive: it incorporates activities and assessments to keep learners engaged and test their understanding.
Multilingual support: since the target audience will be diverse, contents are offered in multiple languages (besides English, all the languages of the partners: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German and Lithuanian).
Progress tracking: it allows users to track their progress and completion of different modules.
Community building: it includes features like forums and discussion boards to foster learner interaction and support.
Certification:participants, who successfully complete each module, receive an official and recognized certificate.

2) How can apply to the course?

The training course will be tested by students and company’s workers to evaluate the different courses created for different target groups. The levels of the training course are I-VET – VET (initial vocational education and training for VET students), I-VET-HE (initial vocational education and training for students from universities) and C-VET (continuing vocational education and training for workers).

3) How will the project ensure the training is accessible and relevant to SMEs and students?

Developing a New Teaching Method and Learning Tools, we are convinced to create a framework (MOOC) with training materials and classroom resources. This framework will be available for teachers and trainers to deliver the training effectively and implement a micro-credential system to recognize acquired knowledge and skills.

The e-learning platform, developed during the project, offers an interactive learning, a community building among professionals and students. All material designed during the project will be available to anyone registered on the platform at any time.

For this reason, the e-learning platform offers synchronous and asynchronous learning possibilities:

Synchronous: it includes features like webinars, live chats, and video conferencing for real-time interaction and discussion.
Asynchronous: it offers pre-recorded lectures, downloadable materials, discussion forums, and self-paced activities for flexible learning.

4) Which is the strategy of the project in terms of outcomes and results?

Overall, the CIRCVET project has the potential to significantly enhance the skills and knowledge of professionals in the plastics industry, contributing to its innovation, resilience, and competitiveness.

CIRCVET partners intend to involve the stakeholders in all the activities of the project following the next steps:

obtainment of interaction and commitment of some of the key actors in the territories of the partners involved.
enlargement of the network to incorporate key actors from outside the consortium. To reach this network, specific activities like companies and students’ questionnaires have been organized, communication and dissemination newsletters, posts have been prepared and partners have been participated to other events to promote the project.
workshops will be organized in the participant countries and regions, with the collaboration and support of the associated partners, to present and demonstrate the CIRCVET activities and results.
Organization of Pilot Workshops, at partner level, to discuss and analyse the training materials and resources, including the Course, their feasibility, applicability, and replicability in their own territories and beyond.

Some events have been already organized by the partner LINPRA in different Lithuanian regions to promote the training course: