When we enter a new year, we can reflect on TVET trends. However, if you want to point out a direction, you need to look at the years gone by to find the trends over time. We have seen words like environmental, economic, and social sustainability through the last ten years. These words are pointing out a direction. A direction that has grown and has become vital. Sustainable development consists of three pillars: environmental, economic and social development.
These words show a trend not only within TVET. It is a global trend in all parts of society. In this article, we will limit our reflection to TVET. We believe that environmental, economic, and social sustainability will be the main focus of TVET in the coming years.
Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability.
In a document written ten years back, we can read about how they were thinking about the trends in TVET. We can read the following [1] :
"A key driver for the concept of sustainable development is to develop a human-centred response to globalization that is based on principles of environmental, economic and social sustainability."
Furthermore, we can read that the new emphasis on skills for growth has led exponents of human capital theory to suggest different policy solutions. The scope and relevance of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has expanded globally because of technological advancements and a shift towards an approach to lifelong learning.
We will look at those three trends written about ten years back and bring them into the words we tend to use today.
- Environmental sustainability
- Economic sustainability
- Social sustainability
