Australian Development Gateway

The Australian Development Gateway (ADG) strives to support members of the development community in their efforts to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. The site has been created with participation from members of government, private, academia and non-government organisations. User feedback mechanisms have been incorporated to guide future directions of the site. The site is optimised for low bandwidth access to enable the widest participation throughout the Asia Pacific region.

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Technical, vocational education & training (TVET)

Orienting technical and vocational education and training for sustainable development (pdf 1.08mb)

This paper discusses the concept of technical and vocational training and its role in promoting and supporting sustainable development.

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) takes on a complex and distinctive character with regard to sustainable development. TVET has always included elements of sustainability, especially in the way scarce training materials were conserved and waste materials were disposed. This historical commitment gives TVET a foundation upon which to build future commitments to sustainable practices. The manner in which production and consumption is managed can either contribute to sustainability or to practices and conditions that are not sustainable.

During education and training, the greater the exposure of trainees to sustainable concepts, practices and examples, the more likely the desired workplace culture change will take place in the future. Moreover, the delivery of sustainable practices must be universal; that is, encompassing not only pre-service TVET, but also on-the-job learning and worker upgrading and retraining. Continuing TVET will continue to predominate in the future, in order to accommodate both technological and job change.

 

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