The Greenovet project is a new European initiative for the development of centers of excellence in vocational education and training (CISOO), which will focus on the skills needed for "green" innovation. Thereby, four regional centers will be established, and one of them is in Skopje. The others are in: Styria - Austria, Vasa - Finland and in Leria - Portugal. The aim of the project is in each region, to include the most important stakeholders from secondary vocational and higher education, together with the economy, and to work together on specific challenges. But the idea is for the four centers to work together to exchange knowledge and experience, which is proving to be a key precondition for developing future-oriented skills. It is this dual focus at regional and pan-European level that makes the project particularly significant.

Thus, the project manager "Greenovet", Bojan Jovanovski briefly presented the new four-year project "Greenovet" - European Platform for Excellence in Vocational Education and Training for Green Innovation, which has officially started to be implemented.

The project envisages the establishment of vocational education and training centers in the field of green innovation, enabling the development of an innovative, inclusive and sustainable economy. How will these centers be formed and how will they function?

- As I mentioned, these centers will be focused on regional needs, due to which the relevant regional strategies for smart specialization have already been analyzed, and for the identified priority areas an analysis was made of the gap between the skills we develop and the skills that will be needed to create and using cleaner technologies. Experts were interviewed in each region and a survey of key stakeholders was conducted. According to the results, each of the regional teams will decide how their center will be formed. But in addition to the form, the centers will differ in the activities they will focus on, as well as in the types of services they will offer.

The Association National Center for Development of Innovation and Entrepreneurial Learning - Skopje is the leading research organization for all four regions, while the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at UKIM in Skopje is the leading organization for the establishment of the centers. Through this, the Skopje region has a certain advantage in this initial phase, having the opportunity to lead the process in all regions, but also to be at the center of the exchange of knowledge and ideas. In the following period, these two organizations, together with the Association of Chambers of Commerce, ASUC "Boro Petrusevski" and Rade Koncar-TEP, but also in cooperation with other stakeholders will decide on the future directions of CISOO in the field of green innovations - Skopje .

To be clear, regardless of the specific focus, the center will foster cooperation between higher and secondary education, the economy, public institutions and the non-governmental sector. In that direction, various trainings will be organized for the teaching staff from the secondary vocational and higher education, but also workshops, projects with the economy, as well as competitions for pupils and students. All in order to be ready to face the new industrial and market trends.

As you said, the project should provide a Platform for interconnection of vocational education and training schools and universities, at regional, national and European level, by involving key partners in local and regional innovation and skills ecosystems. What mechanisms will be used to establish and maintain this platform? 

- This is a very interesting question. The project was written less than a year and a half ago, but at a different time when it comes to digitalization, especially in distance learning and working in remote teams. At that moment, the expectation was that the main challenge will be the development of a technical tool that will enable the exchange of ideas, knowledge, experiences, but also the opportunity to work remotely on new initiatives, as well as attend classes with colleagues from other countries. I believe that all this, at this moment sounds very simple. Fortunately, we hope that it will be so. What remains a challenge is how this platform for international cooperation will keep members active, how we will create mechanisms for continuous retraining of teaching and research staff and joint project work for industry needs across Europe. For this to work, it is necessary for all the mentioned stakeholders (educational institutions, economy and institutions) to find their own interest in this cooperation, due to which representatives of all of them will be included in the body that will develop the platform.

In this regard, I would like to publicly invite all those who think that in some way influence or are influenced by the future needs for skills related to cleaner processes or products, to contact me or my colleagues doc. Dr. Trajce Velkovski and my namesake Assoc. prof. Dr. Bojan Jovanoski, and to be involved in the future activities of the center in Skopje and the pan-European platform. We need a better economy and a cleaner environment, and every positive change starts in the classroom.

European countries are at a much more advanced stage in the processes related to protection and improvement of the environment, and in our country the real sector, especially medium and small enterprises, think very little about this aspect. Do you think it will be possible to run a successful business and act entrepreneurial if you do not think green? 

- In my opinion, there are several factors that affect the development of environmental awareness among companies in Western Europe. Here the personal beliefs of the owners play an important role, but still because the basic responsibility of the business is economic, the pressure from the buyers and the incentive from the regulation take precedence (through negative and positive mechanisms). Accordingly, given that all of these factors are part of society, social norms and expectations are probably the most important factor. In our country, the real lack of funds, but also the social climate create a good alibi for companies, and individuals to leave this problem to someone else and continue with the usual practices with which we made and are doing environmental problems, including negative records. for air pollution.

To answer your question directly, businesses can be both successful and harmful to the environment and society, as far as stakeholders (buyers, locals, regulators, etc.) allow.

I believe that for a positive change it is necessary for the society (each of us) to call to account all companies and political factors through the only real power we have over them - to choose competitors.

You were part of the teaching staff at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at UKIM, and now you are actively working in an educational institution in Graz, Austria. Can you draw a brief parallel between the education systems here and there, in terms of vocational education and the presence of green innovations?

- As for the focus on green innovations, ie the environmental aspect in the development of products and processes, in higher education, I do not see a difference. I gained my first knowledge in the field at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at UKIM in Skopje, where I had the opportunity to be an assistant for several years in the subject of Environmental Management, which has existed since the last millennium, since the 1990s, when the faculty team created the Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies. The undergraduate study program in Energy and Ecology at the faculty still exists today, although this is not the case at some of the technical universities in Western Europe.

However, I would be careful not to project this observation on the entire education system, given that it is still our leading teaching, scientific and research institution in its field.

To be fair to the end, I would like to see one difference, the attitude of the industry towards higher education. I now work at the University of Applied Sciences "Joanneum" in Graz, at the Institute of International Management and I think that companies are more open to different types of cooperation from paid internships for students to joint application projects. But what makes me happy is that in our country, from year to year, the situation is getting better and the cooperation between higher and secondary vocational education on the one hand, and the economy on the other hand is being renewed and deepened. Finally I would like to appeal, each of us is responsible for what he does, but also for what he did not do. We have a planet and the responsibility of our generation is to find a way to live in harmony with nature.