Profile
There are more than 1 million 16-24-year-olds who are currently unemployed in the UK. With youth unemployment at 22% it's unsurprising that a Lottery survey discovered the issue is a priority concern of young people. The situation’s been exacerbated by cuts in career guidance programmes.
Meanwhile the move towards a low-carbon and more sustainable economy is gathering momentum, causing an increase in the number of green jobs that are being created. But what is the UK doing to fill these new vacancies? Independent studies show that Britain is lacking the people with the right skills to fill these jobs and that skill shortages are already constraining the transition to a greener economy.
In addressing current needs, the importance of focusing on the future working population has been recognised. Severn Wye research shows that whilst young people are interested in global and environmental issues, they haven't yet captured the vastness and importance of the green economy and don't see themselves as potential leaders in the drive towards a sustainable future.
In 2010, Severn Wye and a consortium of other organisations secured funding through the National Lottery, Rotary and corporately to develop a pilot of Your Green Future (YGF). The aim of the project was to bridge the gap between youth unemployment and green skill shortages.
Successful events were subsequently held in Cheltenham (September 2010) and Bristol (March 2012), reaching 650 young people from 33 schools. Over 80 organisations attended, ranging from local start-up businesses to world leaders in their field, such as Airbus, Tata, Oxfam, Marks and Spencer, and EDF.
Every teacher who attended these events expressed a desire to return, whilst 96% of students at the Bristol event felt they left better informed about the careers within the green industries.
The positive feedback supports our plans to develop existing approaches and run further events, and after Severn Wye became the lead partner in 2012, three more events were announced for 2013 to take place in Bristol, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.
Each of these events will run over two days and will engage with around 500 students through:
- keynote talks from business and political personnel who will introduce students to key low carbon and sustainable issues
- interactive workshops facilitated and led by professionals focusing on energy, green innovation and sustainable business (within these areas students will explore industries immediately affected by the green agenda, like transport, construction and manufacturing, to those where the connection is less obvious, such as marketing and fashion)
- a green jobs section for students to explore jobs, skills and qualifications in the green economy, including discussing pathways into work (from apprenticeships through to PHD’s) with education providers
- an exhibition area in which students will discuss job roles and opportunities with a range of organisations
- teacher workshops helping teachers identify ways to generate awareness of sustainable careers
We have worked closely with a wide range of organisations to develop the event content. Including STEM, Global Action Plan, the Schumacher Institute, Just Ideas local authorities (notably Worcester Council and South Gloucestershire Council) and universities (notably the University of Worcester and UWE).
To find out about the events, including the businesses involved, please visit: www.yourgreenfuture.org.uk.
Partners
The events have been sponsored by: South Gloucestershire Council, Bath and North East Somerset Council, Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Caterpillar, Ashden, Rotary, Lottery Awards For All, Summerfield Trust.
