Building Green Bridges

In the 2022 Skills for a net-zero economy: Insights from employers[1] report, Stephen Evans (CEO of the Learning and Work Institute) concluded that, “We need to build bridges between education, young people, and employers, and ensure the needs of the net zero economy are an integral part of all we do. The opportunity is there to grasp.”

Key findings in the report included that:

• Most employers surveyed currently require green skills or expect to in the future.
• For employers that require green skills or expect to, they are needed in a wide range of business areas and at all career levels, but most have had difficulty in hiring suitable candidates.

This is great news for the 750 young people who will be participating in SBY’s Green Futures and Green Skills: Connected programmes over the next two years![2]

Another key finding was that:

• Most young people surveyed feel inspired to pursue a career that can help the UK to reach net-zero and are strongly motivated by a desire to combat climate change.

This is equally great news for any employers seeking to engage young people in their work!

The Green Futures and Green Skills: Connected programmes, funded by West of England Combined Authority for the next two years, are designed to bridge that gap between education, young people, and employers, incorporating skills building activities, industry days and work experience days supported by green employers of all sizes, and a large-scale project delivered by the School of Architecture and Environment at UWE Bristol.

But the success of the programme can only be achieved by harnessing the expertise and experience of employers hoping to nurture future talent, and the enthusiasm and motivation of young people to engage with this expertise and experience – in our experience it’s a match made in (green) heaven!

If you’re an employer who would like to find out more about the programme, please get in touch!

[1] GreenSkillsReport-2022_v3c.pdf

[2] The Green Futures and Green Skills: Connected programmes are funded by West of England Combined Authority Green Futures Project.