Careers and skills for a future climate
BioSS were delighted to be involved in co-developing and delivering a novel careers event for young people, entitled “Careers and skills for a future climate”.
Katherine Whyte and Esther Jones from the Offshore Renewables group participated in this project, which ran in 2023, culminating in an event for young people in November 2023.
Aims of the project
The project aimed to both combat climate anxiety in young people, and increase awareness of the types of careers and skills that may be available to tackle climate change across a diverse set of employment sectors. To do this, the project brought together researchers, industry and young people to discuss the challenges, and invite young people to co-design pathways to climate positive solutions.
The careers event
The careers event took place at the AK Bell Library in Perth, and was attended by 69 S5/S6 students from 11 schools across Perth & Kinross, Dundee, and Edinburgh. After a quick welcome, we launched into the day, with an introductory talk on “Solving wicked problems” by Meg Bartholomew from Heriot-Watt University. After this, experts from four different sectors gave engaging and interactive talks on their career story, and provided an overview of the challenges and opportunities within each sector:
- Agri-food & Environment (Mike Rivington, The James Hutton Institute)
- Engineering & Construction (Rwayda Al Hamd, Abertay University)
- Energy (Ewan Edwards, Xodus global energy consultancy)
- Clothing and Fashion (Lynn Wilson, Circular Design consultancy)
During the lunch break, there was the opportunity for young people to explore a careers fair, allowing one-to-one conversations with the different employers in attendance. The afternoon was discussion-focussed, with the young people being split into small groups based on the employment sector they were most interested in. Each group contained a number of young people from different schools, as well as a few experts from different organisations within that sector and a discussion facilitator. During the course of the afternoon, each group worked through a series of tasks, including outlining the future goals for each sector in the context of climate change, discussing potential barriers and opportunities for achieving these goals, and finally outlining which jobs and skills might be needed in the future of each sector.
Outcomes
The roadmaps developed by the young people at this event were collated, alongside feedback from the young people and experts - see this blog and listen to the podcast to hear some of the highlights. Our ambition is that the new format trialled at this event will serve as a prototype for running similar careers events in future.
Funders and project partners
This project was supported by the SEFARI Gateway Innovative Knowledge Exchange Fund. The project was led by the James Hutton Institute, and the project team included representatives from Bertha Park High School, Skills Development Scotland, BioSS, ClimateXChange, CREW, and The Rowett Institute.