GreenComp · 12 competences for sustainable thinking, planning and acting
GreenComp is the EU's sustainability competence framework developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC). 4 areas × 3 competences each = 12 sustainability competences for learners and educators across Europe.
Sustainability doesn't begin with data — it begins with the sense of being part of something larger.
GreenComp is a reference framework for sustainability competences that empowers learners to think, plan, and act with empathy, responsibility, and care for our planet and for public health.
GreenComp is referenced in the 2024 Erasmus+ Green Transition Strategy and the 2022 Council Recommendation on learning for environmental sustainability. It supports the Union of Skills and Preparedness Union priorities (Commission, March 2025).
Click any quadrant to see its 3 competences. Click a competence for the full detail. A faster way to navigate than scrolling — and a teaching aid in itself.
As an analogy of a highly developed natural system, the metaphor stresses the interaction and dynamic between the four areas and the 12 competences of GreenComp.
The JRC describes the four areas through the bee-pollination metaphor — each part of the natural cycle stands for one area of competences:
The GreenComp TCA Planner serves two different roles, each with their own workflow:
- Share toolkit with TCA participants 2 weeks ahead
- Collect Pre-TCA CSVs from each participant
- Run TCA · use methods from Method Library
- Collect Post-TCA CSVs
- Drop all CSVs in Aggregator → impact report
- Open the toolkit, read 12 competences in Framework
- Self-rate 1–5 — save Pre-TCA snapshot
- Export CSV, email to your NA
- Attend TCA · reflect using competence questions
- Re-rate afterwards — save Post-TCA + export CSV
12 competences, 4 areas
The radial Atlas below is the centrepiece. Click any competence node for full detail, or filter by area. Below the Atlas: deeper area cards with persona-specific tips.
Self-assessment
Rate yourself (participant context) or benchmark your team (organiser context). Save Pre-TCA and Post-TCA snapshots to measure impact.
Used to label your snapshots + CSV so your NA knows whose data it is. Optional — leave blank for anonymous.
Free text — what worked, what you'd change, anything else. Included in your export and mail.
Tip: you can also save your results as a CSV and send that to your NA — see 'Advanced' just below.
Advanced — CSV & other formats
TCA Mapping Tool
Describe any TCA topic — green or not — and see which GreenComp competences it connects to.
Pick from any source on the left — chips land here. Export when ready — print, share, paste into your application.
Only needed when you actually run the TCA — turns your TCA Plan into a runnable workshop with a timed agenda and matched methods. Skip if you only need the documented plan.
Workshop Method Library
Detailed step-by-step facilitator guides for using GreenComp in TCA sessions.
Competence Gallery
12 spotlight cards — one for each competence. Each card shows how the competence might play out in practice, plus one signature action. Click any gem to dive deeper.
In the original JRC GreenComp publication, Annex 1 presents two extended case studies showing all 12 competences in action. Below are short summaries — the full versions are in the JRC PDF (pages 38–41).
Fatima is a teacher who wants her pupils to spend more time in nature (Promoting nature, 1.3). The local river is polluted by industrial waste and household plastic; residents avoid the area. With investigative attitude (Critical thinking 2.2, Exploratory thinking 3.3), she decides to treat this as a sustainability problem (Problem framing 2.3, Valuing sustainability 1.1). She imagines families picnicking there, schools running field trips, the river used for rowing (Futures literacy 3.1). She maps direct and indirect causes (Systems thinking 2.1, Individual initiative 4.3), brings in city officials (Collective action 4.2, Political agency 4.1), stops driving and starts bussing to school (Adaptability 3.2), petitions the school cafeteria to go vegetarian (Political + Collective action 4.1/4.2), and organises a community treasure hunt to collect waste, with prizes that protect pollinators.
Alex, a fourth-year secondary-school student from a different background, has integrated through volunteering (Supporting fairness 1.2, Individual initiative 4.3). He helped restore a primary-school green space (Promoting nature 1.3, Collective action 4.2). Recently feeling 'eco-anxiety', he joined a school project: Will we reach the SDGs by 2030? His group works on SDG 12 (responsible production/consumption). They research best practice (Systems thinking 2.1, Critical thinking 2.2), imagine a future circular community (Futures literacy 3.1, Valuing sustainability 1.1), then develop strategy aligned with the waste hierarchy. They plan peer-teaching on recycling (Individual initiative 4.3), community park cleanups (Collective action 4.2), letters to the council with photos (Political agency 4.1), and a clothes-swap circle to reduce fast-fashion consumption (Exploratory thinking 3.3, Adaptability 3.2).
Self-check
A short, optional knowledge check — match real situations to the right GreenComp competence. No score, no pressure: it just helps the framework stick.
NA Aggregator
Drop participant CSVs to visualise Pre/Post-TCA impact across your group.
The toolkit has no central server (single-file by design). But you can still aggregate group data — here's the workflow:
Each participant returns their CSV (Assessment tab → Export) or a filled-in PDF form. Drop multiple files here to aggregate Pre + Post snapshots automatically. All processing stays in your browser — no upload.
GreenComp in EU Policy
Interactive timeline of policy anchors — click any milestone to see references, links, and how GreenComp fits.
Glossary
Every Erasmus+ and GreenComp term in plain language. Search, filter, click any card for the full meaning. No jargon left behind.