BLOG: Working in partnership to grow a more inclusive environmental sector
A reflection by Andy Harrison, Head of Delivery and Learning at Groundwork UK.
We had a brilliant time at last week’s Environmental Services and Solutions (ESS) Expo in Birmingham. With over 600 exhibitors and 12,000 visitors, the event showcases solutions that will help the UK work towards a greener future; incorporating the circular economy, Net Zero, sustainability, and biodiversity. All will be important if we are to achieve Groundwork’s vision of a fair and green future in which people, places, and nature thrive.
As charity partner to the event, we were delighted to contribute to the excellent programme of discussions on the Green Skills and Future Talent Stage, focusing on how the UK environment sector can grow a diverse workforce able to deliver against commitments on the climate and nature crises.
While Groundwork has been supporting people with their first steps into green careers for over 40 years, our focus at the Expo was to share learning from recent initiatives designed to help create more accessible pathways into environmental careers – in particular for young people who are currently underrepresented in the sector.
Our recent report, Planning for the Future: Recruiting diverse Talent into Waste and Resource Management, adds to the existing evidence around barriers to environmental careers. Written in partnership with the Expo, the findings provide encouraging insights about the appetite amongst young people for jobs that contribute to Net Zero. Less positively it also identifies an absence of relevant careers advice, a lack of understanding around environmental career pathways, and perceptions of low pay and unappealing work as barriers to young people entering the sector. In addition, a lack of diversity – particularly in the waste and resources sector which is predominantly white and male – results in few relatable role models for some young people.
Although the challenges are evident, discussions at the Expo were rightly focused on solutions. The packed programme of discussions focusing on the future environmental workforce reflected a collective commitment to creating a more accessible sector, opening up a wider talent pool needed to tackle the challenges ahead of us, and unlocking the skills and perspectives of a more diverse workforce.
I was happy to share learning from Groundwork’s New to Nature programme which, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, has supported efforts to diversify the nature sector. The programme has supported 95 people into 12-month paid work placements across more than 80 employers across the UK, with a focus on young people who are from ethnically diverse backgrounds, who have a disability, or are from low-income households. Participants have reported increased understanding of the sector, a desire to progress their careers in nature, confidence around their future prospects, and improved wellbeing. Employers have benefited from a peer network supporting collective action towards a more inclusive nature sector, with the vast majority reporting how stripped back recruitment practices, targeted recruitment strategies, and a focus on entry-level pathways through New to Nature will change their practice in the longer term.
Being involved in a panel discussion alongside environment sector partners and employers, focusing on the journey towards a more diverse environmental workforce, demonstrated both the great progress being made in some parts of the sector – and the extent of the challenges still in front of us. Panel members shared some excellent examples of initiatives designed to encourage younger people, people from minoritised communities, and women into environmental roles. They also highlighted a lack of careers advice for young people, the need to get beyond high level equality, diversity and inclusion strategies into specific, targeted action, and the importance of leaders seeing the genuine business benefits of a more diverse workforce. The panel discussion concluded with a focus on the opportunity for the sector to make greater progress more quickly by working together, sharing ideas, and focusing on collaboration.
Groundwork believes that growing an inclusive green economy is a unique opportunity to deliver multiple benefits for people, places, communities and the environment. Growing the green work force is critical to fulfilling the UK’s environmental commitments and, a ‘just transition’ will provide economic opportunities in left behind places, whilst ensuring that no one misses the opportunity to secure a fulfilling career that contributes positively to the environment.
Collaboration will be key to making this happen, and we’d love to expand our networks to support this vision. Please get in touch if you think we could work together to help achieve a more inclusive environmental sector.
Notes to Editors
For more information please contact: media@groundwork.org.uk
About Groundwork
Groundwork is a federation of charities with a collective mission to take practical action to create a fair and green future in which people, places, and nature thrive. We support communities and businesses to build capacity and resilience in order to tackle hardship, achieve a just transition to net-zero and help nature recover in a way that reduces inequality and leads to healthier, happier lives for all: www.groundwork.org.uk