Support for Researchers
Find out more about how PPS can support UoS researchers to enhance their policy impact of their work.
Report
The final project report is entitled: “Improving visibility and access to green careers in Hampshire and the Solent.”
The research has provided evidence of how green skills and green jobs are understood by those working in education, policy and industry in the Hampshire and Solent region. The report aims to better understand the role of careers advisors and related training and education professionals to help support implementation of Local Skills Improvement Plans and Regional Skills Strategies. Challenges and barriers to entry into green careers were identified, particularly for young people and those from underrepresented groups who lack access to important information, advice and guidance. A key finding was the need for much clearer definitions and categorisation of green skills matched with a poor level of training and education provision to reflect the scope of green skills and training requirements. This is critical to reflect the breadth of job opportunities which require green skills in the Hampshire and Solent Region.
The findings are elaborated in four key themes that that address the problems the research team and participants identified. The recommendations provided in this report detail actions and pathways with these themes that exemplify the importance of knowledge, communication and collaboration.
Theme 1: Strengthening education and industry partnerships for green skills development
Theme 2: Utilising policy levers for equitable green job pathways
Theme 3: Bridging the information gap: strengthening green careers guidance
Theme 4: Expanding access to green careers
Further work is urgently required to implement the solutions and recommendations using a collaborative approach to support green skills development in the Hampshire and Solent region. More specific work is required to develop resources and promotional materials for career consultants and schools, colleges and universities to effectively guide people towards green skills and greener careers. The Greenprint framework and partnership is ideally placed to provide a way of facilitating further progress on understanding what is needed to develop training and education for green skills and jobs in the region. Strengthening such partnerships with allocated time across participating organisations and additional funding for collaborative projects, as illustrated by this research, is fundamental to addressing the critical impacts we face due to the climate crisis.
Updates
About
As part of the UKRIs Creating Opportunities through Local Innovation Fellowships (COLIF) pilot (funded through the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) awards), the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Oxford, Southampton and Swansea are collaborating to address local inequalities by creating fellowships that combine academic research and evaluation with civic insights and experience.
The Universities have brought together two teams of academic and HE professional services colleagues who have designed and are delivering fellowships that respond to productivity and employment challenges in our regions.
The University of Southampton is leading on a fellowship in partnership with the New Forest National Park Authority and the GreenPrint initiative that is examining the role of ‘Sustainability in local productivity and employment’. GreenPrint is a place-based initiative across the UK’s Central South that seeks to collaboratively lead a green agenda for a sustainable future and brings together local authorities, universities, businesses and third sector organisations to respond effectively to climate, environmental and socio-economic challenges.
What is GreenPrint?
Greenprint has identified five priorities for a green recovery for the region:
Net Zero with Nature: Leading efforts to reduce carbon emissions by integrating nature-based solutions to build a zero-carbon economy and communities.
Natural Health Service: Enhancing physical and mental health by improving access to natural environments and integrating nature into urban areas.
World Class Blue/Green Environments: Protecting and improving high-quality natural environments to support a strong economy and healthy society
Creating Great Places: Promoting innovative, sustainable, and inclusive design and construction to create high-quality living spaces
Centre for Excellence in Green Skills and Jobs: Addressing local skills gaps and economic inequalities by developing a workforce equipped for the green economy
What is the COLIF Sustainability Project?
This project is focussed on the priority of Green skills and Jobs and looks to work with GreenPrint to develop a survey of the local initiatives and stakeholders, analyse regional plans, and green skills strategies across the Central South area (but with applicability to other UK regions) to assess what needs to change in the green employment sector in order to support regional stakeholders to understand and consider the specific skills needs of key local sectors and the green economy, and to identify training and education that can be provided in order to deliver a green skills system that is more responsive and closely aligned to the local labour market needs and fit for the future.
The term "green" is widely used to describe environmentally friendly practices across various fields, though it often lacks a precise definition or standard.
Project Team
Principal Investigator: Dr Emma Rawlings Smith, University of Southampton
Co-Investigator: Dr Sheena Carlisle, Cardiff University
Fellow: Dr Ashra Khanom, Swansea University
Project coordinator: Jacqueline Nightingale, University of Southampton
Project partner: Jim Mitchell, New Forest National Park Authority
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Project Overview
Aim
To explore green career guidance and skill acquisition for young people, graduates and adults
Methods
Literature review – definitions, policies, green skills and green careers
Interviews – public sector, private sector and third sector, schools, colleges and universities
Outputs
Report to the Greenprint network on Local Green Skills including a landscape review, roles of education and industry, list of interventions
Anticipated Outcomes
A common language on green skills and jobs
Increased knowledge in professional services teams
Appropriately informed workforce through careers advice
