Just as I have talked about in previous blogs, recognising sustainable development is the root of new professions. Naturally, these require the acquisition of new skills.
The Electronic Validation Assessment project developed by companies and taken on by the West-Provence Employment House, demonstrates this necessity because it allows for the acquisition of eco-skills.
Indeed, industrial companies are very much involved in the obligation, with or without carbon tax, of improving their performance with the use and management of natural resources. Not only concerning water, it includes all energy sources such as carbon, air, oil and light. These companies must also economise their consumption and seek to reduce the effects of their waste on the environment.
The EVA project thus offers the chance to maintenance operators of automated production systems to acquire, according to Nathalie Ferry, West-Provence Employment House Director “skills combining earning and production cleanliness”.
The training is carried out through e-learning thanks to a multimedia platform which offers educational content, a tutor, virtual classes, evaluation quizzes and a certification system. It equally allows for companies to pool together their experiences and to be innovative in the setting up of new systems or uses favourable to sustainable development.
This project nicely illustrates organisational learning. Nathalie Ferry reminds us of the importance of what is at stake with this kind of learning: “Technical professions are strategic for the future of the industry as well as the ability to measure the value of human capital”.
It is fair to say that the first approach for sustainable development involves optimising natural resource management but, as Nathalie Ferry reminds us, it also involves guarding, preserving, giving value to and sustainably enriching our world's most important resource, that of human capital, without which none of these new skills can become common-place.
Also, a complete understanding of operational knowledge management appears to be the best arm available to us today for winning the battle against sustainable development.
Maintaining and developing human capital is to simultaneously provide ways to conserve our environment whilst also providing us with the chance to be innovative in creating future wealth. Dealing with this bears witness to our social and environmental responsibility.