Project Code: 2024-2-EL01-KA210-VET-000278249
The InkScape Innovators project was born from the shared commitment of all partners to transform vocational education by integrating environmental awareness, creativity, and inclusive learning practices. As climate change becomes one of the most critical global challenges of our era, this project proposes an innovative response: empowering young learners in Vocational Education and Training (VET) to become agents of green transition by merging green skills with visual storytelling through comics and manga.
Our core idea is simple yet powerful: use the familiar language of illustrated storytelling to engage students in sustainability education and boost their creative potential while developing 21st-century skills. Comics, with their unique blend of image and narrative, offer an accessible and captivating way to approach environmental themes and vocational knowledge. In this way, InkScape Innovators positions itself at the intersection of climate education, youth creativity, and applied arts in education.
The project is led by EEPEK (Greece), with the support of ComMedi (a creative youth-centered social enterprise), Kerigma (a Portuguese VET organization), and Profilo MTAL (a Turkish technical high school). Two additional Greek VET schools contribute to the pilot phase. Each partner brings specific expertise—from comics and digital storytelling to green pedagogy and non-formal education—to support students and teachers in co-creating educational comics that embed environmental values in everyday vocational contexts.
From the outset, ComMedi, as the creative educational partner, emphasized the need to involve students in hands-on, meaningful creation. Rather than being passive recipients, young learners are invited to reimagine scenes from classic literature and their own vocational disciplines by embedding sustainable solutions: renewable energy systems, green construction, digital minimalism, and more. This storytelling framework enables both artistic exploration and deeper learning in green competencies.
The project started with a two-day kick-off meeting and educator training in Larissa, Greece, where all partners co-designed the methodology and set the foundations for curriculum adaptation. During the initial 3-day workshop, educators were trained in digital comic design, curriculum co-creation, and inclusive green pedagogy. Tools developed in the EU GreW project were reused and adapted, ensuring continuity and open access.
Through four main phases—educator training, classroom experimentation, international comic co-creation workshops, and large-scale exhibitions and summits—InkScape Innovators aims to increase the attractiveness of VET education for youth by making it creative, future-oriented, and socially relevant.
By the end of the project, students from Greece, Portugal, and Turkey will have produced 12 original digital comics, participated in international mobility, and presented their work at comic festivals and a major Green Skills Summit in Greece. Educators will have access to a suite of green-skills teaching resources and creative methodologies to continue integrating sustainability into VET classrooms.
Ultimately, InkScape Innovators aspires to create a model where creativity, environmental responsibility, and professional identity are not separate paths—but parts of a shared educational journey for the green citizens of tomorrow.
