Abstract

The Greenlab International Congress 2026 provided a significant European platform for discussing the future role of vocational education and training (VET) in supporting the green transition, sustainability management, and innovation ecosystem development. This article integrates findings from the Greenlab project’s cross-country applied research and the SME sustainability research presented by Vastuu Group. The findings reveal strong convergence between the two studies, highlighting rapidly growing sustainability competence needs, practical implementation barriers among SMEs, and the importance of flexible micro-credential-based educational solutions.

1. Introduction

The accelerating green transition is reshaping European economies, labour markets, and educational systems. Climate neutrality targets, ESG regulation, sustainability reporting obligations, and circular economy strategies are creating new competence requirements across nearly all sectors.

The Greenlab International Congress 2026 highlighted the increasingly strategic role of vocational education institutions in supporting practical sustainability implementation within businesses and regional ecosystems.

The congress discussions were strongly informed by two complementary research streams:
1. The Greenlab project’s applied cross-country labour market and sustainability skills research.
2. The SME sustainability research presented by Vastuu Group and conducted by nSight Oy.

Together, these studies provided a coherent picture of Europe’s emerging sustainability competence landscape.

2. Greenlab Applied Research

The Greenlab project conducted extensive applied research focusing on sustainability management, environmental consulting, green labour market trends, and vocational education preparedness across several European countries.

The research covered Finland, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, and Belgium. It included desk research, interviews, focus groups, labour market analysis, and VET course analysis.

The findings demonstrated that sustainability competences are becoming increasingly cross-sectoral. Demand is growing rapidly for sustainability managers, ESG specialists, environmental consultants, circular economy experts, and sustainability reporting professionals.

The Greenlab research also identified significant weaknesses in existing vocational education systems. In many countries, sustainability-related VET provision remains fragmented, theoretical, and insufficiently connected to practical labour market needs.

3. SMEs and Sustainability Challenges

The Greenlab research highlighted that SMEs often lack sustainability expertise, internal reporting systems, and strategic sustainability management capabilities.

Businesses increasingly face sustainability expectations originating from:
– customers,
– supply chains,
– financiers,
– public procurement,
– and EU regulation.

However, many SMEs lack the resources, competencies, and operational structures required for effective sustainability implementation. The project therefore identified strong demand for modular competence development, practical implementation tools, and flexible learning models.

4. Vastuu Group Research Findings

The congress also featured detailed SME sustainability research presented by Vastuu Group and conducted by nSight Oy. The study gathered responses from 1,946 SMEs during 2025.

According to the findings:
– 84% of SMEs consider sustainability important.
– The perceived importance increases with company size.
– The key perceived benefits include stronger reputation, stakeholder trust, risk management, preparation for future legislation, and new business opportunities.

The research strongly validated the earlier Greenlab findings by demonstrating that sustainability is increasingly viewed as a competitiveness factor and strategic capability rather than merely a compliance issue.

5. The Sustainability Reporting Gap

One of the most important findings concerned the gap between increasing sustainability expectations and actual reporting practices.

Although 33% of SMEs reported that customers already demand sustainability reporting, only 19% of companies actually publish sustainability reports.

The study revealed several key barriers:
– sustainability reporting is not yet legally required,
– reporting is perceived as expensive,
– reporting processes are considered complex,
– companies lack time and resources,
– and sustainability terminology remains difficult to understand.

The findings suggested that SMEs do not primarily resist sustainability ideologically. Instead, the barriers are practical, structural, and competence-related.

6. Terminology and Competence Gaps

A particularly significant finding concerned SMEs’ weak familiarity with sustainability terminology.

Many respondents reported limited understanding of concepts such as:
– ESG,
– CSRD,
– ESRS,
– Scope 1–3 emissions,
– double materiality,
– due diligence,
– and VSME.

This highlighted that one of the most important barriers to sustainability transition is not unwillingness, but lack of conceptual understanding and practical guidance.

7. Micro-Credentials as a Strategic Solution

The Greenlab project’s micro-credential framework was presented as a concrete response to the challenges identified in both research streams.

The micro-credentials were designed to:
– lower participation thresholds,
– support lifelong learning,
– enable rapid competence development,
– and provide immediately applicable sustainability competences.

The congress discussions framed micro-credentials not merely as short educational modules but as labour market adaptation mechanisms and ecosystem tools supporting Europe’s green transition.

8. Vocational Education as an Ecosystem Actor

A broader strategic theme emerging from the congress was the transformation of vocational education institutions into active ecosystem actors.

Vocational institutions were increasingly described as:
– sustainability competence hubs,
– innovation facilitators,
– SME development partners,
– and regional transition accelerators.

This aligns closely with the philosophy underpinning the European Centres of Vocational Excellence initiative.

9. Discussion

Taken together, the Greenlab applied research and the Vastuu Group SME study produced remarkably consistent findings.

Both studies identified:
– rapidly growing sustainability competence demands,
– major SME implementation challenges,
– lack of practical sustainability expertise,
– and strong demand for accessible educational solutions.

The findings suggest that sustainability transition requires practical competence ecosystems where vocational education institutions, businesses, and innovation actors cooperate closely.

10. Conclusion

The Greenlab International Congress 2026 demonstrated that Europe’s green transition is fundamentally a competence transformation challenge.

The Greenlab project’s applied research identified rapidly evolving green labour market needs and structural gaps in vocational education systems. The research presented by Vastuu Group strongly reinforced these findings by demonstrating that SMEs increasingly recognise sustainability as strategically important, while simultaneously facing major practical implementation barriers.

Together, the studies suggest that:
– sustainability transition requires practical competence ecosystems,
– SMEs need simplified and business-oriented educational support,
– and micro-credentials may become one of the most important tools enabling flexible lifelong learning during the green transition.

The congress therefore represented not merely a dissemination event for a project, but a broader reflection on the future societal role of vocational education in Europe’s sustainability transformation.