Pilot: Recognition of circular economy competences with digital Open Badges
Digital competences

Pilot: Recognition of circular economy competences with digital Open Badges

The circular economy will continue to be a key theme in all our economic activities, which is why developing circular economy competences is vital. Competences should also be measurable and visible – in this pilot circular economy competences will be recognised and made visible by means of digital Open Badges.

The pilot project for an open-badge constellation of the circular economy meets this need by offering employers a method for circular economy competence recognition and development. The open-badge constellation also serves the employees and applicants by making circular economy competences more visible.

Open-badge constellation of the circular economy

Digital Open Badges have been created for the recognition of generic circular economy competences. The badges are piloted from April to September within the construction, chemical and technology industries.

The constellation consists of four open badges, on two levels, to be completed.

  1. Basics of the circular economy
  2. Principles and operating models of the circular economy
    • Milestone badge: Basic skills of the circular economy
  3. Digitalisation, data and AI in the circular economy
  4. Circular economy development and application
    • Milestone badge: Solution finder for the circular economy

Competences are verified with badge applications. Each of the four badge applications consists of multiple-choice questions and for example open-ended questions and information search tasks.

Completing the first two badges, the person will receive the Basics of the circular economy milestone badge. Once all badges have been completed, the person will receive a Solution finder for the circular economy milestone badge.

The circular economy open-badge constellation serves the purposes of both employers and employees. Employers get a comprehensive picture of the current status and development needs of their organisation’s circular economy competences. The open-badge constellation makes it easier for both employees and applicants to identify and verify their circular economy competences and highlight it as they see fit.

The project concentrates on identifying existing competences accumulated during the work, so training is not included. However, at its best, the badges inspire participants to develop their circular economy competences already during the pilot and discuss the themes in their workplace and networks.

Project details

The project is carried out by AFRYTurku University of Applied Sciences and the Finnish Information Society Development Centre (TIEKE) between November 2023 and October 2024. The project has been funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the source of financing is NextGenerationEU of the European Union.

More information on the project website (in Finnish)

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