Section 2 - Green Skills In Education

Key Actions and Recommendations

2.1 Widen and expand work in supporting schools to embed green skills throughout all curriculum areas and to increase the awareness of the younger generations of the importance of green skills for the future.

2.2 Establish a Young Peoples ‘Green Growth Assembly’

2.3 Training for school’s Careers Advisors to increase knowledge and confidence when supporting students with green skills and the associated job opportunities they will unlock. Including work to encourage more girls to consider engineering / electrical engineering pathways. Working to ensure that young people from all backgrounds and communities are encouraged to consider green skills options.

2.4 Work with Further Education providers to widen ‘Green Skills Pipeline’ subjects.

2.5 Work with Further Education providers to increase diversity within Green Skills pipeline subjects including engineering and manufacturing disciplines.

2.6 Work with Adult Education providers and WMCA to grow sustainability awareness and leadership offering.

Ensuring that the opportunity for young people to acquire green skills, and to have visibility of green career options, is critical. We are looking to support teachers across primary, secondary, and post-16 learning to be better able to embed these opportunities within the provision. We also want to support careers advisors to ensure that they can give young people the most appropriate advice and signposting possible.

The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) D2N2 brought together young people and employers to set up the Young People’s Green Growth Assembly. The Assembly conducted a survey of young people to establish if they knew what green skills and green jobs are and whether they wanted to pursue a career which protected the environment and wanted their future employers to have a track record of being environmentally friendly. The purpose of the Assembly is to raise the awareness of young people about green jobs and career prospects with local employers with an interactive website promoting opportunities as they arise. Coventry should look to set up a similar arrangement in partnership with our Strategic Energy Partner E.ON and others.

Teachers

The Department for Education’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy identifies a joint responsibility with the education sector for preparing children and young people for the challenges and opportunities they will face “to develop a broad understanding of the importance of nature, sustainability and the causes and impact of climate change and to translate this knowledge into positive action and solutions.”

There is a major commitment to the training and development of teachers at all levels in carbon literacy and best practice for sustainable management as well as cross curricular teaching as part of the drive to deliver “Excellence in education and skills for a changing world: preparing all young people for a world impacted by climate change through learning and practical experience.”

Coventry City Council is currently identifying the core competencies required for teachers to lead sustainability initiatives across the school estate and functions. These teachers will oversee the integration of sustainability and climate change education throughout the curriculum. Students will not only learn about the importance of climate change and the science behind it, but they will also be inspired by their school's proactive approach to addressing these issues. Lead teachers will ensure their schools set the highest standards in energy and environmental management within their buildings and estate. Schools will be managed to reduce carbon emissions and to adapt and be resilient to the effects of climate change.

Case Study 1: E.ON Schools Partnership

As part of Coventry’s Strategic Energy Partnership, E.ON jointly with the Council are running an education programme in schools starting with a pilot of 6 Primary Schools in the City to just under 400 children.

The programme consists of a one-day workshop targeted at upper key stage two children, which explores how renewable technology can be used to generate energy and have a positive impact on the environment. The workshop considers how different types of energy are used around the home and links are made to the impacts that wasting energy is having on our environment. Through a collaborative approach, learners seek potential solutions and look for innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint by becoming more energy efficient. Learning, gained knowledge and prior experiences are applied through a task to design a school of the future, focused on the use of renewable technologies.

Learning aims:

  • To identify and discuss a range of energy sources and uses.
  • To understand and identify savings and efficiency relating to energy use.
  • To explore new ways of achieving energy efficiency and environmentally friendly ways of producing energy using renewable technology.
  • The sessions will also discuss application of skills / career pathways - How can the skills used as part of our learning be used in the future? It is hoped that this element of the workshop will appeal to the KS2 (Y5 & Y6) children and get them thinking about jobs of the future.

School career leads

A survey in February 2024 of Coventry School Careers Leads revealed that a significant proportion lacked confidence in defining what a green career was and explaining to students how their current learning connected with green careers. In addition, Schools Careers Leads wanted to develop more confidence in explaining relevant green skills related qualifications to students and in exploring Coventry’s green growth sectors such as EV production and maintenance and home retrofit.

The majority of Coventry Schools Careers Leads indicated they were keen to attend training which will widen their knowledge and improve the quality of Information Advice and Guidance provided to Coventry school students around sustainability skills associated with green jobs and careers.

Case Study 2: St Augustine’s School Retrofit Design Project

‘Act On Energy,’ The University of Warwick’s Behavioural Economics Department and Coventry City Council developed a hands-on practical experience programme on the science subject of ‘insulation’ for Year 5 children in the school.  

The programme was designed in such a way to engage the children’s parents in the subject which related to understanding its importance for the application of science innovation and design to address energy conservation in the home. It provides a direct link to the importance of applying retrofit technologies to reduce fuel bills and increased understanding of the importance of such work.

The children had the opportunity to show off their innovative designs for improving energy efficiency in their homes through the use of demonstration models. The activities demonstrated a real example of a directly relevant growth to the families present which may provide an interesting career opportunity for some in the future.

The information gathered from this pilot will inform the approach for different target groups and helped to identify the key barriers to take up of funding for tenants of private sector landlords in particular and the key motivations for take up of grants for tenants in social housing in an area where over 95 residents in the Radford area benefited from SHDF 1 grants.

16 - 18 provision

Analysis led by Fircroft College, funded through the West Midlands and Warwickshire Local Skills Improvement Plan’s (LSIP) - Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) considered the number of learners studying ‘Green Related Pipeline’ subject areas. This shows that the West Midlands has 1112 learners per 100,000 studying ‘Green Related’ areas. This is a higher proportion than 5 other UK regions but trails the East Midlands and the North-West and significantly the North-East which has 2736 learners per 100,000. The analysis does show however that Coventry has the fifth highest proportion of learners in ‘Green Related’ areas in the West Midlands Region.

Fircroft’s analysis also shows that male learners overwhelmingly undertake ‘Green Related’ learning – 93%. This is in large part due to the prevalence of male learners in subjects such as engineering and mechanics. We need to work with our FE Providers to widen what is currently considered to be ‘Green Related’ pipeline. In addition, work both with FE Providers and through school’s careers activity to increase the attractiveness of engineering and manufacturing disciplines for female learners. This will include increasing of engagement of industry in schools particularly focusing on engaging female learners in the engineering and manufacturing disciplines.

Higher and Adult Education

The role of Higher and Adult Education is critical in ensuring that those who are already employed can access training to transition into greener roles as well as supporting currently unemployed or economically inactive adults to enter the labour market in Green Skills roles. Providers across Coventry have a range of different courses to meet the needs of those who need to up-skill or re-skill. Recently Coventry College has introduced a boot camp training programme for sustainability and carbon literacy skills for managers which is free to individuals or at a subsidised rate for businesses providing that at the end of the training the trainees have amended job descriptions and job roles with a remit to also address sustainability management issues.  The first course was majorly oversubscribed with three times as many applicants as places, clearly demonstrating the demand for such training and skills development.

There are some current courses focusing on sustainability awareness and leadership, but this is an area we will work with Adult Education providers to grow.

Skills
Name Electrification Retrofit Environmental
Coventry College
  • Electric vehicle diagnostics
  • Systems and maintenance
  • Design and installation of
    EV charging installations
  • Insulation skills bootcamps -
    Dyson and Westdale Midlands Ltd
  • External Wall Insulation (EWI)
    and Cavity Wall Insulation (CWI)
  • Sustainability Leadership
    LV3 Skills Bootcamp
North Warwickshire and
South Leicestershire College
  • Electric and hybrid vehicle system repair and replacement
  • Hydrogen HGV awareness
  • Automated AI and robotics
  • The Electrification Skills Training Programme
  • Environmental Sustainability
  • Net zero for business skills
  • Green healthcare for all skills
  • Navigating AI for business
  • Green leadership skills

 

WCG (Warwickshire College)
  • Electric and hybrid vehicle system repair and replacement
 

Pershore College

  • Honours and foundation degrees
    in Sustainable Horticulture
  • Apprenticeships in Arborist and Horticulture
  • Horticulture courses for all levels
    including ones for adults with SEN
  • Courses with RHS qualifications

Moreton Morrell College

  • Agriculture, Countryside and Wildlife
  • Land-based courses with a focus on sustainability
University of Warwick
  • Connected Automated
  • Mobility (ICAM) School
  • Battery cell to pack engineering
  • Electric Drivetrain School
  • Automotive and industrial
    lithium-ion battery recycling
   
Coventry University
  • Connected Autonomous Vehicle System (CAV-Systems)
  • Leading your team through a change process
  • Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to Electric Vehicles (EV)
  • Electrification Pathway
  • Hydrogen Energy School
 
  • Certificate in Environmental Management
  • Foundation Certificate in Environmental Management
  • Environmental and Sustainability skills for managers
  • Environmental and Sustainability skills for workers
  • Pathway to Net Zero
  • Introduction to Net Zero
Warwick Manufacturing Group
  • Sustainable automotive electrification
   

Coventry City Council Outdoor Education Service

CCC’s Outdoor Education Service are now providers of various LANTRA courses. LANTRA is the national skills body which supports the veterinary and land-based practices with the setting of skills training. The Outdoor Education Service deliver a range of post 16 qualifications based around the City & Guilds Trees and Timber Management at Level 2 and Level 3. They cover all of the essential skills and knowledge for a career in forestry and arboriculture including; forestry establishment and maintenance, forestry harvesting, forestry green wood trades, forestry social and Arboriculture.  Students can also study with these courses whilst on apprenticeships with Level 2 for those people with a basic knowledge and Level 3 for those who are more experienced and want to prepare for higher level training.

Coventry Climate Change Board – Work on Resident Behavioural Change:

The City's Independent Climate Change Board in supporting community led action for addressing sustainability issues notably the establishment of social enterprises to promote re-use and repair of goods and services, development of renewable technologies within community buildings and the development of horticultural skills to convert areas of neglected open space into community gardens and food growing areas.   A sizeable 5 year programme linking with training provision to give community representatives the skills required to make meaningful community led changes.

Case Study 3: WMG University of Warwick – Electrification Short Courses

WMG Skills Centre, at the University of Warwick, provide a range of short courses designed to support those employed in sectors impacted by electrification. These courses help workers to transition into roles working with batteries, power electronics, motors, and electric drives. Working with employers to identify the needs of their workforce, WMG provide solutions either through delivery of their own courses or in partnership with other providers across the region. Short courses run by WMG are accessed by hundreds of learners each year and have been critical in the transition of the workforce in some of the area’s largest employers.