WorldSkills International in collaboration 3M, Glasurit, and SATA held a Sustainable Practice Award Competition for the Car Painting Skill. Awards received three best competitors from Hong Kong, Australia, and France who used the least amount of materials with the best result during the competition. On 26 August, the award ceremony took place after the competition was over at WorldSkills Kazan 2019.
The Sustainable Practice Award project has been launched to promote sustainable practice in different professions. Competitors must complete the Test Projects in the most efficient way in terms of the use of materials, water, and energy.
“Sustainability is a very important topic for WorldSkills. It is the second time that we have launched the Sustainable Practice Award since WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, which aims to promote and develop green mind-set of the Competitors that they can continue to use in their real workplace. We are excited that more partners and sponsors are supporting this initiative. With more skills that have integrated sustainable practice into the official marking, we have no doubt that the initiative will grow even bigger and create more impact in the next WorldSkills Competition,” says Alexander Amiri, Director of Sponsorship and Partnership WorldSkills International.
The Award is a part of holistic approach aimed at increasing the awareness on sustainable development in materials, health and safety, education, competition growth, waste reduction, and respect for the environment. Selecting the right products, reducing waste, and reusing materials helps combine ecological awareness and economic success, delivering an important contribution to the present and future of humanity.
“Sustainability is important for the future of all of us. The work that these young competitors demonstrated was so impressive. They showed the importance of not only doing a job well but doing a job efficiently and with minimal materials and resources. They are special champions who show it matters how we do our work,” says Maureen Tholen, Sustainability Director, 3M.
“For BASF and Glasurit, sustainability is in everything we do, and this is also why we support car paint competition. I think sustainability practice is skill number one to the world,” emphasizes Roar Solberg, Vice President Automotive Refinish Coatings Solutions, BASF.
Joern Stoever, Export Sales Manager, SATA, adds: “Sustainability is important for SATA as there is a direct link to profitability for our customers as they save products. It is important for the environment as we are saving resources.”
Inspired by the Sustainable Practice Award piloted in Car Painting at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, it was continued at WorldSkills Kazan 2019.
WorldSkills Kazan 2019
WorldSkills Kazan 2019 was held from August 22-27. Close to 1,300 competitors from 63 WorldSkills Member countries and regions competed in 56 skills. This was the largest international event in Russia in 2019.
Kazan was awarded the right to hold the event in 2015, after a vote of WorldSkills Members. WorldSkills Russia works in all 85 regions of the country and is one of the priority projects for the federal government in the field of personnel training and economic development.
