Abstract:

As the UK economy targets net zero by 2050 demand for green skills in the workforce will grow and there will also be a risk of skills gaps and skills shortages. The role of green skills in supporting a just transition to a low carbon economy and society or ‘going green’ is well documented in the literature but there are relatively few articles which address the pedagogical approaches required to provide these skills. Likewise, there is much written in the education for sustainability (EfS) or education for sustainable development (ESD) literature which relates to required learning outcomes for students but again much less on how this can be achieved.

Based on a qualitative research study into the skills required by employers in a region of the UK - Cambridgeshire and Peterborough - to support ‘going green', this paper reflects on how, in particular technical and vocational education and training in the higher education sector might respond to these needs. By mapping the 21st century skills needs of employers identified from our research with EfS/ESD theory, this paper comments on the current pedagogical approaches and curricula change needed to meet the future skills needs of a just transition to a low carbon economy and society by 2050.

Recognising the skills most in demand by employers are likely to be ‘soft’ transferable skills rather than ‘hard’ technical skills there needs to be a transition from knowledge-based skills towards values- and attitudes-based skills in higher education. This paper further contributes to the literature and policymaking by highlighting the importance of upskilling and retraining the workforce across all sectors and sharing examples of pedagogical approaches which address the ways in which students think, the ways in which they practice and students’ ways of being.

Keywords:

Green skills, education for sustainability, higher education, pedagogical approaches.