The GreenComp Pulse turns GreenComp, the EU sustainability competence framework, into plain English for teachers. It sets out all 12 competences as “I can” statements for four age bands, from 5 to 16, and teaches them through four STEAM projects with a two-page lesson plan for every activity. Learners rate their own progress with a simple rubric, and the class records what changed after an action outside the classroom.
This edition adds AIMS, a 169to1 planning framework for mixed classes, including learners with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, autistic learners, learners with ADHD and learners with other special educational needs (SEN).
The whole class works on the same project, while each learner works at the step that fits them and chooses how to show what they have learned. Every lesson plan offers ways in for everyone and a calmer option, so every learner takes part in the same lesson without a separate version.
Select · Classify · Prove
The GreenComp Pulse
A plain-English guide to the EU sustainability competence framework: the 12 green competences, and the knowledge, skills and attitudes behind each one. Follow each competence through four age bands from 5 to 16, run a STEAM project through the design cycle, plan it with AIMS so every learner in the class can take part, rate progress with an age-band rubric, and find out whether your action worked.
Rewritten in plain British English from GreenComp (JRC, 2022), published under CC BY 4.0, with "I can" statements, a rubric and a STEAM project for each of four age bands.
12Competences
4Age Bands
169KSA Statements
4STEAM Projects
4th Edition · AIMSAll 12 competences matter equally, for every learner. GreenComp treats them as one whole and is written for learners of any age. AIMS helps every learner in a mixed class take part in the same project. The "I can" statements, rubric and projects for ages 5 to 8, 9 to 10, 11 to 13 and 14 to 16 are 169to1's teaching progression, built on the GreenComp descriptors.
Learners
Filter By Area
Learners
Filter By Area
Learners
Filter By Area
Set Up For Your Class
Everything in this tool is organised around four age bands. Choose your learners and every tab opens at that band: the "I can" statements, the rubric, the design cycle questions and the STEAM project.
Which Learners Will Take Part?
What This Tool Brings Together
The 12 Competences
GreenComp, the EU sustainability competence framework, in plain English: four areas, 12 competences and the knowledge, skills and attitudes behind each one.
GreenComp, JRC, 2022. CC BY 4.0.
GreenComp Across The Ages
Each competence written as an "I can" statement for four age bands, from age 5 to 16, with a classroom activity for each one.
169to1 Teaching Progression, 2026. CC BY 4.0.
GreenComp Through STEAM
Four anchor projects, one per age band, that teach all 12 competences through Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics.
169to1 Teaching Examples, 2026. CC BY 4.0.
AIMS For Every Learner
One class, one goal, many ways in. Steps of success, ways in, calmer options and plain words, so learners with special educational needs take part in the same project as everyone else.
169to1 Planning Framework, 2026. CC BY 4.0.
How To Use It With A Class
Choose your learners.Pick an age band above. Every tab then opens at that band.
Share the "I can" statements.On the Ages tab, read the statements for your band with learners.
Take a starting point.On the Check tab, learners rate themselves on each competence using the rubric: Not Yet, Getting There or I Can Do This.
Plan with AIMS.On the AIMS tab, choose the steps of success, ways in and calmer options for your project, then run the AIMS Lesson Check.
Run the STEAM project.Open the project for your band and follow the design cycle: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test, Improve. Tick off each stage in the project's tracker.
Find out what changed.On the Did It Work? tab, record the before and after, the evidence and your verdict, and check your claims before you share them.
Rate again and plan the next step.Learners rate themselves again. The Profile tab shows what to work on next and the activities that build it.
Print what you need.The Pack tab holds progression sheets, project sheets, the rubric, record sheets and teacher's and student's notes.
Quick Answers
The 12 Competences
GreenComp's 12 competences in plain English, each with its "I can" statement for your age band. Open a competence for the knowledge, skills and attitudes behind it, and to follow it from age 5 to 16. Switch to Full Framework Text to read and search all 169 statements.
All competences
The full GreenComp framework in plain English: every competence with the knowledge, skills and attitudes behind it, 169 statements in all. Open a competence to read its statements, or use the area filter and search above.
GreenComp Across The Ages
Each of the 12 competences written as an "I can" statement for four age bands, with a classroom activity for each. Pick an age band to see all 12 at that level, or open a competence to follow it from age 5 to 16.
A Teaching Progression. GreenComp is written for learners of any age and does not set levels by age. These statements are 169to1's steps for each age band, built on the GreenComp descriptors. Adapt them to your learners.
How The Statements Progress
From the concrete and local to the abstract and global, and from doing things with support to leading them independently.
GreenComp Through STEAM
Four anchor projects, one for each age band, that teach all 12 GreenComp competences through Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. Each runs for a term or half term and ends with an action outside the classroom. Every activity has a two-page lesson plan: open a project and use Print Lesson Plan.
The Four Projects
One anchor project for each age band. Open a project for its activities, design cycle tracker, coverage check and safety notes.
The Design Cycle
Every project moves through the same six stages, the way engineers and designers work: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Test and Improve. The cycle is the backbone of each project, because it follows the GreenComp journey from noticing a problem to acting on it. Improve leads back to Ask, so a class can go round more than once.
How To Use It
Read each stage for your age band. The stage cards below give a question for your learners. Choose another band to see how the same stage grows from age 5 to 16.
See where each activity fits. Every activity in a project is tagged with the stages it covers, so you can check the class goes all the way round.
Track the class. Each project has a tracker. Tick a stage when the class completes it, on screen or on page 001 of the printed project sheets.
Go round again. When you reach Improve, start a new cycle with what you learned.
Show Questions For
A Teaching Structure. The links between stages and competences are 169to1's suggestion, to show which competences each stage builds most. Every stage can build any competence.
How GreenComp And STEAM Fit Together
Each strand links most closely to particular competences, although every strand can contribute to all of them.
Principles For Planning
How Each Strand Progresses
Assessment And Evidence
Practical Notes For Schools
AIMS: One Class, One Goal, Many Ways In
AIMS helps you plan GreenComp lessons so that every learner works on the same project, in the same room, without a separate version. It is written for mixed classes that include learners with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, autistic learners, learners with ADHD and learners with other special educational needs. Every choice it builds in is offered to the whole class, so nobody is singled out.
A 169to1 Planning Framework. GreenComp is written for all learners, irrespective of their age and education level. AIMS is 169to1's framework for putting that into practice in a mixed classroom. It draws on research from neighbouring fields. Record what you find on the Did It Work? tab, so the evidence builds over time.
The Four Parts Of AIMS
Use the four parts as a check when you plan any lesson in this tool.
Five Rules For Planning
Steps For Every Learner
The four "I can" statements for each competence work as four steps of success inside one activity. A learner of any age can work at any step. Use the step names, not the age bands, when you talk with learners, so nobody is handed work labelled for younger children.
How To Use The Steps. The class works on the same activity throughout. Each learner works at the step that fits them and moves on to the next step when ready. Learners choose their step on the Check tab.
Ways In For Your Project
Every activity in your band's STEAM project, with ways in to offer the whole class and a way to go deeper. The same notes appear on page 002 of each lesson plan.
Ways To Show What You Learned
Offer every learner the same menu for every activity, and let them choose.
Calmer Options
Hands-on and outdoor work helps many learners, but noise, mess and crowds can overwhelm some. Each calmer option keeps the learner in the task. Offer them to everyone, and agree them with the class before the activity starts.
Shared Plain Words
The whole class uses the same plain words all term. Put them on the wall with a picture or symbol for each.
Learners' Words For Every Age Band
Learners' Words appear beside the competence names for ages 5 to 10. Switch them on for every age band, across every tab and printed sheet.
Learners' Words For The 12 CompetencesKey Words In Your Project
Each key word has a meaning written for the age band. Agree each one with the class, add a picture or notes, and use the same meaning every time.
Words To Explain Or Avoid
Some learners take words literally, and some climate phrases are frightening when taken at face value. Explain these the first time they come up, or use the plain version.
End With One Action
Every lesson plan in this tool ends with a class commitment: one thing the class will do. Keep it small and within reach, so each lesson ends with something learners can do.
AIMS Lesson Check
Before The Lesson
Tick each point when your lesson plan meets it. Ticks are saved in this browser for your age band.
The Research Behind AIMS
Research on climate education for these learners is limited, so AIMS draws on studies from inclusive science teaching, outdoor learning, climate anxiety and accessible information. Each point below links to its source.
Rate Yourself
How I Will Show My Learning
Choose as many as you like. Every way counts the same.
The 12 Competences
Ratings are saved in this browser only, separately for each age band. On a shared device, print or copy the profile, then tap Start Again before the next learner.
Your Profile
Your Results
Your Next Step
Did It Work?
Every STEAM project ends with an action outside the classroom. This tab records what happened next: what changed, how you know, and what did not work. It turns the project into a report someone else could check.
Which Project?
1What We Set Out To Change
One action or decision you wanted, and how you would count it.
2Before And After
Measure the same thing, the same way, before and after your action.
3What People Did
Choose all that apply, then describe it.
4How We Know
Evidence someone else could check.
5Our Verdict
6How Everyone Took Part
How the class took part, so the next project works for every learner. Record ways in, not names or labels.
Ways In We Used
Did Everyone Take Part In The Action?
7Claims Check
8Our Report
Built from your answers. Copy it into a newsletter, a report to governors or a presentation.
Your Print Pack
Progression sheets, STEAM project sheets and lesson plans you have added, printed together as A4 sheets.
Your pack is empty. Use Add To Pack on any competence, STEAM project or lesson plan.
Printing opens the sheets on their own page. Use the Print button at the top, or on a phone use Share and then Print, to save a PDF.
Print A Full Set
All 12 Progression Sheets
One A4 page per competence: the four "I can" statements, an activity for each age band, and a self-rating scale.
All Four STEAM Projects
For each project, an overview page with the design cycle tracker, coverage check, safety notes and class commitment, then every activity in two columns: learner instructions on the left, teacher notes on the right.
Lesson Plans
A two-page lesson plan for every activity in a STEAM project. Page 001 is for the class; page 002 is the teacher's plan, timings and what to look for.
Notes, Rubrics And Records
Ready to print, in the same A4 format as the lesson sheets.
Rubric Card And Score Sheet
Three pages for your age band: all 12 competences at three levels with a step to move up, and a score sheet with a colour-in profile. Change the band on the Start tab.
Colour-In Checklist
One page for your age band: twelve I can statements with plain names and three circles to colour, with colour-in bars for ages 5 to 8. For any learner who prefers colouring to writing.
AIMS Planning Check
One page for your age band: the four parts of AIMS, steps of success to fill in, a ten-point lesson check and space for a calmer option.
Word Wall Cards
Cut-out cards for every key word in the project for your age band, each with a meaning and space for a picture (ages 5 to 8) or notes (ages 9 to 16).
Did It Work? Record Sheet
One page for classes without devices: before and after, evidence, a verdict and a claims check.
Teacher's Notes And Checklist
Two pages: what the tool is, objectives, key words, the nine tabs, a term at a glance and assessment.
Student's Notes And Checklist
Two pages: a project journal with a section for each stage of the design cycle, a self-rating and a final checklist.
Select · Classify · Prove
