A TVET EXCHANGE PROGRAM BETWEEN DENMARK AND KENYA – FROM 2021 – 2023
Short STORY ABOUT USHIRIKA FITI in English
BY NIELS LARSEN, RCE DENMARK
Passion and sustainability (passion og bæredygtighed)
The transition to be a green institution.
The transition to more sustainable societies requires, without precedent, a shift in skills, knowledge, and competencies. The education sector is important for this transition and greening technical and vocational education and training (TVET) plays a key role in providing the workforce with this knowledge, skills, and competencies to facilitate the transition to greener economies and societies. TVET is the part of education that is directly connected to the labor market and the production sector, and it is the only sector of education that clearly connects the learning world with the working world. Furthermore, green skills are becoming increasingly important for all sectors and occupations and range from basic cross-cutting competencies to new occupational profiles. Greening TVET worldwide is therefore a top priority of UNESCO and UNEVOC, and in Denmark the Danish National Commission to UNESCO is very committed to promote sustainability and the SDG’s within the Danish TVET institutions. Greening TVET has over the years also gained an increased attention among the Danish TVET institutions themselves, and many have started to prioritize integration of sustainability and the SDG’s. DEG, wishes to inspire all schools to use the SDGs as a basis both for development of educational activities as well as school management.
It was with this perspective we (FIC Denmark and RCE Denmark) made and application to CISU. CICU is a Civil Society in Development and an independent association of 270+ Danish Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). All members are together with partners actively engaged in development work in Asia, Africa, Latin America, or Eastern Europe – either as their main engagement or as part of their activities.
USHIRIKA FITI or practical partnership has an overall goal is to promote and strengthen interest and global engagement in sustainability, international development, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) among students and teachers within technical and vocational education in Denmark.
The interventions
The implementation of the project had the following interventions.
Intervention 1: Has engaged primary 15 carpentry and joinery students and 6 teachers from following Vocational Training Centers in Denmark: NEXT, in Copenhagen, Rybners, Esbjerg and Herningsholm in Herning directly in a partnership with students and teachers from Comboni Polytechnic in Gilgil, near Naivasha.
Intervention 2: The teachers in both Denmark and Kenya have together with students have developed an education module that embrace ESD and GCED (will be referred to as sustainability
modules or Bricks/IVAC model), a module which can now be used for education of students during the project and after the project has ended.
Intervention 3: A teacher/manager-delegation to Kenya where they were able to exchange ideas, learning and experience with their Kenyan counterparts, discuss and prepare pilot projects and prepare for the following travel of students from Denmark.
Intervention 4: A student exchange trip to Kenya, where the students experience challenges in the Global South first-hand and get involved in finding and creating sustainable solutions to local community challenges for a slum area in Gilgil. The teachers and students participated in the different intervention and functioned as important dissemination intermediaries to promote interest and engagement among the other target groups. The participating students disseminate later their experiences to other young students and gave inspiration on how to become engaged in development cooperation and work for a more sustainable world – e.g. through volunteer work or internships in Denmark or in the Global South – where they get to use their craftmanship and skills hands-on.
Intervention 5: A teacher – student delegation from Kenya going to Denmark for a week stay and work together with their new Danish friends and experience the needs for skills in local areas in Denmark within carpentry and joinery.
But very unfortunate the Kenyan students never came to Denmark because they didn’t get the VISA from the Danish ministry of foreign affairs.
During and after the stay in Kenya, the Danish students, teachers, and a journalist made news and stories in Danish newspapers and on social media and made it possible to disseminate the project outcome.
The partners behind this project:
Forum for International Cooperation: FIC has a long experience with implementation of projects in Denmark, Europe and East Africa. Since its foundation, FIC has carried out more than 20 development projects in East Africa together with a wide variety of local partners and stakeholders counting civil society organizations, grassroots, public and governmental institutions and the private sector. FIC’s projects and programmes in Kenya have especially been aimed at addressing labour market challenges where the primary areas of intervention have been focused around 1) improving working conditions and labour rights in cooperation with local trade unions and 2) on creating employment opportunities for young disadvantaged men and women in cooperation with local youth organisations and TVET-institutions.
Regional Centre of Expertise Denmark: Established by the United Nations University, the Regional Centres of Expertise (RCE’s) are regional networks that promote ESD and GCED. Globally there are currently more than 175 RCE’s. Denmark has one RCE that functions as a national and international powerhouse for practical research, development and dissemination of ESD and GCED. RCE Denmark connects experts within different educational fields such as researchers, teachers at different levels, educationalists and businesses. The network furthermore supports and develops collaboration across research and practice and supports and develops collaboration across organisations and disciplines.
NEXT Uddannelse København: NEXT is Denmark’s largest institution for TVET and secondary education (gymnasie) with around 7000 students spread out on 14 different addresses in Copenhagen. In March 2021 NEXT became a UNESCO-certified school, meaning that they are to integrate sustainability and the SDGs in the whole running of the schools’ curriculum, values, objectives, daily operations and practices etc. (the whole-school approach). School membership of UNESCO is based on a firm commitment by the school leadership and community to promote the ideals and values of UNESCO by reinforcing Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the humanistic, ethical, cultural and international dimensions of education through GCED. Since the beginning of 2020, where they initiated the transition to become a UNESCO certified school, NEXT has continuously been in the process of finding out where it is meaningful to include the SDGs, and how different departments can work purposefully with the sustainability and SDG-related topics.
Rybners and Herningsholm Erhvervsskoler: Rybners is a TVET institution spread out on 3 addresses in Esbjerg and Herningsholm is an institution for TVET and secondary education where the TVET part is situated on different addresses in Herning and Ikast. Both Rybners and Herningsholm have around 3000 TVET students and both have initiated to integrate sustainability and the SDGs more into the school curricula and management. At Rybners’ carpentry education the teachers have started to educate students on sustainable construction and management of resources with a particular focus on SDG 12. The school has tried to establish partnerships with schools in both the MENA region and in Senegal, but political instability and other challenges have been barriers for them to succeed on this. Therefore, they were very interested in joining this project where they have potential to build such a partnership, that hopefully can continue after the project has ended. Herningsholm have recently initiated that carpentry, masonry and joinery students at Basic Course 11 are offered to work with sustainability over the next 6 months – for instance on how they can create something from recycled materials and construct something with other prerequisites than they are used to.
Herningsholm have had successful long-term partnerships with other European schools through Erasmus+ but have been keen on finding school partners outside of Europe.
Comboni Polytechnic: FIC’s local staff have been key in identifying the right Kenyan TVET school partners for the project. Several schools were looked at in Mombasa, Kisumu, Nairobi and Nakuru, but after discussions and evaluation of each of them, Kabete and Comboni were assessed as a good match with the Danish schools – partly because they also have educations within woodwork, partly because they also are trying to increasingly integrate the SDG’s more into the whole-school approach, and partly because they have a close connection with the local community. Kabete was later not able to match the whole approach for the project so they were out of the project after the first teacher and management trip to Kenya. Comboni is a smaller polytechnic located in Gilgil Nakuru. The school has started to work on minimizing waste of their activities and the goods and products produced by students benefit the local community. They matched the whole project very well from start to finish.
The Bricks/IVAC model
The collaboration model: Bricks/IVAC in the USHIRIKA FITI – project©.2023
The BRICK – IVAC model- Developed in the USHIRIKA FITI project.
Intro and explanation about Bricks/IVAC model
The idea of The Bricks /IVAC model is to offer a methodology for ESD in TVET. The model integrated a more informational part (the bricks) and a more process-oriented part: IVAC.
The model expands the learning environment by encouraging the students to go out in the local society, which enables a new kind of learning experience vital for the work of greening TVET?
The model works with different main topics that must be considered during and before the IVAC process can start:
- The four pillars in the sustainability and how they will be integrated in the work: Social, environment, cultural and economic.
- The 17 Development Goals are a main concern, and in every interaction or intervention try to find out which goals will mostly be integrated.
- Global Citizenship is an ongoing issue in the exchange project where young TVET student will meet other students from another part of the world.
- The Ushirika Fiti project will always make engagement and participation, how can that be strengthen in the intervention?
- Specific Content Bricks This Brick contains and elaborate the sub-topics that relates the general knowledge about Sustainability to carpentry and joinery education. E.g., sustainable construction & techniques, production and housing, entrepreneurship and innovation, materials, resource scarcity and resource efficiency. Through the ‘translation’ of the general knowledge to the student’s specific field of vocation the chance of engagement increases.
- Example bricks These bricks have a double function. Showing examples of sustainability or intercultural activities and engagement in a global, national, or local context. And showing specific examples and cases on pilot modules and student products from partnership institutions to inspire, share knowledge and at the same time create documentation on the knowledge creation in the project.
- Implementation Bricks – the IVAC-process These bricks are about the actions in the project. What is being done at the partner institutions and what each institution wants to do with this project. The IVAC model, which is ‘beside’ the main bricks is a core methodology of the implementation Bricks because training the IVAC process can support the students Life skills and entrepreneurial education towards sustainable production, consumption, and lifestyle. IVAC processes can also support the kind of multifaceted and holistic learning processes being important in ESD and GCED.
The IVAC model – an Investigation-Vision-Action-Change (IVAC) approach
This model represents an approach supportive to school-community collaboration, pupil’s participation, and action-orientated teaching. To develop the “students’ ability to act, initiate and bring about positive change” the four elements of the IVAC model are vital to address when working with aparticipatory approach in education (Carlsson & Simovska, 2012). IVAC can also be seen as a kind of learning circle supporting entrepreneurial education and part of the process should be to go out and investigate needs and challenges in the local society (like in the slum – or informal housing) to which carpentry or joinery can bring ideas to solutions and change.
When doing the IVAC processes students and teachers works in collaborative learning processes elaborating how to move carpentry and joinery education in Denmark and Kenya to an increased engagement in the local and global transformation towards a more sustainable living and working life.
The IVAC2 (Investigation−Vision−Action−Change) approach:
| Investigation | Vision | Action | Change |
| Investigating of theme for the work: Like investigation in a slum area Why is this issue important to us?
What is its significance to us/others, now and/or in the future?
What influence do live conditions have for the local dwellers In the slum?
What influence are we? exposed to and why?
How were things before and why have will we try to change?
How will it affect the different sustainable approaches? |
What material do you like to use as carpenters and joinery work? Which alternatives are possible?
What will be our main idea og ambition for a new and alternative product?
How are the conditions in other areas of Kenya or Denmark cultures?
Which alternatives do we prefer and why?
What kind of participation and engagement do we like to happen?
How can it fit to a new future work life in the area we work? |
What possible actions, and product could achieve the changes? Which barriers might prevent us carrying out these actions?
Which barriers might prevent actions from resulting in change?
Which actions will initiate?
How will we evaluate these actions?
Will the actions be done alone or together with other peers and what is the benefit of this?
What skills are important in the action? And why? |
What changes will bring us closer to the vision − changes? andwithin ourselves,
in the local community – what is the main approach to local leaders (elders) and local politicians in Gilgil Naivasha
in society? – like Kenya
How is the change related to the 17- development goal?
Can the change be related to a new IVAC process?
Can we refer the change to different quality criteria? And in what way? |
| What is the history before?Example: | Example: | Example: | Is the change related to new skills or competences?Example: |
2 Inspired by Venka Simowska and Bjarne Bruun Jensen (2009): Conceptualizing participation – the health of children and young people. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe.
The evaluations process has been done with many methods like observations, interviews, informal communication, and questionnaire by internal approach.
All in all, both the teachers and the Danish students has been satisfied with the whole project. All though there has been some challenges in implementing the sustainable model and prepare the pilot process before the students meet each other in Kenya. It has been a challenge for the Danish student that the process not always was predictable because the project has some changes because of local circumstances. For example, was it decided very late that the actual co-learning was not possible at the slumdwellers houses but had to be at the local primary school. But during the 10 days stay in Gilgil it was
a success and students and teachers was quite excited about the results and the close cultural meeting with the pupils at the local school.
For both the Danish and the Kenyan students they wanted the stay to be longer with their new friends.
In the end the project has been a success in many ways: Not only among the kids from the local school but also for the Danish and the Kenyan students and their institutions.
The project ended in a very sad disappointment. Although the Danish Foreign ministry funding agency, the CICU pool has supported the whole project another agency in the same ministry, the Embassy in a strange way and with no real and validated argument did not gave visa for the Kenyans to come to Denmark. Very disappointing.
MIKE, Comboni
All participants in the project:
| Kenyan students from Comboni | Danish students |
| 1. Dan Mwangi | From Herningsholm:Julie Amalie Høgh Anton Birkedal Hansen Daniel Nicolajsen Simon Amstrup HansenCamilo Sierralta Amand de Mendieta
From Rybners: William Graversen Bay Anton Bertel Knudsen Pedersen Gustav Emil Aagesen Frederik Riishede Uhrskov Lucas Møller Pedersen From NEXT: Ågot Oftedal Hansen Aske Brink Vilsen Mathilde Gudrun Larsen Kathrine Bruun Andersen Emilie Kallager |
| 2. Anthony Maina | |
| 3. Paul Macharia | |
| 4. Leah Wanjohi | |
| 5. Wairimu Wachira | |
| 6. Evans Njau | |
| 7. Michael Mburu | |
| 8. Oliver Ogada | |
| 9. Francis Njuguna | |
| 10. Evans Maana | |
| 11. Paul Karanu | |
| 12. Erick Njagi | |
| 13. Oranga Calvin | |
| 14. Lewis Wanjohi | |
| 15. Peter Kagiri | |
| 16. Bernard Toroitich | |
| Principals and teachers from Kenya,Comboni | Principals and Teachers from Danmark |
| Principal: Emmanuel Nyongesa | Rybners |
| Teachers: | Karsten Josef Grigel, Principal |
| Mr. Joseph Murage | Kristian Dalkjær Sørensen, Teacher |
| Mr. Januarius Owino, | NEXT |
| Erick Aduwo, | Jørgen Richter, Principal |
| And: | Hernan Jose Bahamondes, teacher |
| Bett, Luka,Patrick,Ann, | Arkadiusz Julon, teacher |
| Penina Muriuki, George | Cathrine Saltbæk Tværskov, journalist |
| Herningsholm | |
| Jesper Steen Nielsen, principal | |
| Jens Peter Stou, teacher | |
| Kasper Vedel Eriksen, teacher | |
| From FIC | From RCE Denmark |
| Carsten Andersen, Director FIC – Denmark Erustus Ouko (Festus), FIC- KenyaJeppe Albrechten (FIC Denmark – in the beginning | Niels Larsen, consultant, RCE Denmark |
| External consultants | |
| Kenya:Mary Otieno, associate professor, Kenyatta University, RCE Greater Nairobi. | DanmarkBirgitte Helbæk Marcussen, Associated professor VIA, RCE Denmark |