From Micro to Macro: Dr Katerina Kolyva on Embedding The Green Mindset Throughout FE and Skills

There’s a paradox at the heart of the FE sector’s approach to sustainability. We need urgent action on green skills, yet the ultimate goal should be to make the “green mindset” obsolete, because sustainability has become so embedded in everything we do that we no longer need to separate it out.

That’s the vision outlined by Dr Katerina Kolyva, CEO of the Education Training Foundation, in an interview with FE News at the Green Mindset Micro-Collective event.

The Power of Local Practice

Katerina is clear that the green transition in FE isn’t just about high-level strategy. “The beauty of the collective is that diversity of thought and diversity of perspective,” she explains, highlighting how the event brings together teachers, educators, students, learners, leaders, industry players, and employers.

What makes this approach powerful is its focus on practical, ground-level innovation. Katerina emphasises that the most effective change comes from applying a green skills mindset to any professional service, whether that’s construction, hospitality, hair and beauty, healthcare, or any employment setting, from online work to retail environments.

“It’s about bringing all those different places, settings and experiences together and showcasing how things can work at the micro level to then inform the macro level,” she says.

The Disconnect Problem

But there’s a challenge that needs addressing. Katerina identifies a troubling gap between policy and practice, what she calls “a disconnect at the macro level between the narrative, the strategy, the objective and what we actually do in practice.”

She illustrates this with a stark example: educators teaching about the wonders of sustainability while standing in buildings that contradict those very principles in terms of energy use and construction. This authenticity gap undermines both teaching and morale.

The End Goal: Making Green Invisible

“I would love us to be in a position where we don’t have to have days like this and that green mindset becomes almost irrelevant because it has been embedded so much into our thinking and into our doing.”

This isn’t about abandoning sustainability as a priority, it’s about achieving such deep integration that it stops being a separate strand and becomes fundamental to how FE operates.

“It shouldn’t be a subsection or a module. It should be a proper mindset”.

What Needs to Happen

For educators and leaders: Prioritise professional development in sustainability. ETF has developed professional standards incorporating green skills and offers Education Sustainability CPD and professional status, resources that Katerina encourages colleagues to utilise.

For practitioners: Build the evidence base through practitioner-level research. “We talk a lot about it, but it’s very much about that practitioner-level research and showcasing that it then builds a momentum across the education community”.

For everyone: Join networks and engage with the FE community around sustainability. “Being part of networks and being part of an inspired community in FE and skills is what will make us stronger in this space.”

Creating the Conditions

Katerina’s message is about creating environments where best practices can be shared across generations and perspectives. Small projects applied consistently across diverse settings can generate the evidence and momentum needed for systemic change.

The challenge for FE leaders is to move beyond treating sustainability as an add-on topic and instead weave it into the fabric of institutional practice, from building design to curriculum development, from professional development to employer partnerships.

As Katerina makes clear, the sector has the local knowledge, the practical expertise, and the diverse perspectives needed. What’s required now is the institutional commitment to embed green thinking so deeply that one day, we won’t need to talk about it as something separate at all.

Watch the full interview with Dr Katerina Kolyva: