Driving forward practices and support behavioural changes
Sébastien Thierry
Green Transition and Sustainable Development (Bordeaux)
The challenges remain as great as ever.
In 2021-2022, the ecological transition was high on the political agenda of the EU and many member states. The enthusiasm was palpable, the objective ambitious (to contribute to a spearheading Europe in environmental matters). At the time, SALTO was well placed to drive forward practices and support behavioural changes through two of the EU’s flagship programmes, Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps. With the geopolitical developments since 2022, the ecological transition has received less support and is less of a priority on the agenda. Nevertheless, the challenges remain as great as ever, galvanising the SALTO team to deliver on the initial promises of change.
A small group of colleagues worked on different aspects of eco-responsible approach.
In the French Erasmus+ national agency in charge of Education and Training, a small group of colleagues who volunteered and were motivated by eco-responsible approach worked on different aspects: from waste management to travel issues and the digital question. As a public organisation subject to strict regulations, not all options were possible – for example, acting on the rules governing the use of transport, which are defined at national level. So we had to work hard to convince all our internal colleagues – as well as the Board of the Agency – of the merits of our proposals. This has led to a substantial reduction in the carbon footprint per capita for transport (the Agency’s biggest carbon emission driver), but also for digital technology, by investing in equipment with lower carbon footprint.
From the question of the Agency’s environmental footprint to that of the programme, the step was quickly taken. We came to play an active part in defining the contours of the transversal priority „Environment and fight against climate change”. When the Commission published the call for applications for SALTO 'Green’, it was natural that the Agency should be involved. Our application was accepted in 2022, and the SALTO Green resource centre has now been up and running for the last 3 years.
We had to aim for a real impact from future SALTO actions.
Of all the exciting questions that the SALTO application confronted us with, that of the programme’s actual contribution was the most important. We had to aim for a real impact from future SALTO actions. Three major areas were therefore defined for SALTO’s action: 1) the most obvious, reducing the environmental footprint of the programme and the projects it funds: travel, digital, food, purchases, etc. 2) as an educational programme, use the power of Erasmus+ and the ESC to help change behaviour and encourage the emergence of transversal skills for the ecological transition (GreenComp) 3) Erasmus+ and the ESC are programmes that train young people for the jobs of tomorrow, particularly the jobs of the green transition – we had therefore suggested setting up a „GOT” (green opportunity training) following the example of the „DOT” (digital opportunity training) that already exist!
I'm personally sensitive to environmental issues for a long time.
My name is Sébastien Thierry. At the time of the launch of SALTO on the ecological transition in the Erasmus+ programme and the European Solidarity Corps, I was Deputy Director of the French Erasmus+ national agency in charge of the Education and Training part of the Erasmus+ programme.
I’m personally sensitive to environmental issues for a long time, I launched initiatives within the Agency to take greater account of this dimension from 2017 onwards, when environmental issues gained in importance under the impetus of citizens’ mobilisations. Now I’m an independent consultant and the environmental aspect of the Erasmus+ programme is naturally one of my main areas of work.
