From linear thinking to green growth mindsets Vocational education and training and skills as springboards for the circular economy

Abstract

The linear ‘take, make, waste’ model, which took hold with the first industrial revolution and has powered economic development around the globe since then, has an enormous environmental and carbon footprint. Resource extraction, processing of materials and fuels, and food production account for an estimated 50% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are responsible for 90% of biodiver- sity loss and water stress (situations where water resources in a country or region do not meet needs) (European Commission, 2019). Mainstreaming and upscaling renewables to reduce the environmental footprint of energy production systems will cut 55% of current CO 2 emissions at most. Reducing the remaining 45% will require a fundamental change in how goods are made and used. The circular economy concept, which surfaced in economic circles for the first time in 1988 (Kneese, 1988), is a response to that challenge (Box 1)