The aim of the project is to identify ways to improve the alignment of skills provision to the needs of the low carbon transition while ensuring that the jobs created are inclusive to local young people and offer genuine career prospects. Using the concept of local skills ecosystems, i.e. the local or regional social formations that structure the development and deployment of human capabilities (Buchanan et al. 2017), the project examines how further education colleges, training providers, higher education institutions, employers, and local and city-regional governments balance local and sectoral economic demands with local community needs, specifically the prospects of young people.

Through quantitative analysis of education and training data, the project assesses the extent to which local education and training provision appears to be changing in response to changing local and regional economic restructuring and the needs of emerging green industries. Meanwhile, qualitative regional case studies investigate how skills providers, employers, and other local stakeholders work together to plan for and respond to changing skills demands emanating from the low carbon transition. Issues under investigation are local and regional approaches to identifying skills needs and the uncertainty around these, efforts to adapt or create skills provision aimed at green or low carbon sectors, and engagement with prospective learners. The project will develop findings and recommendations to inform local and regional policy in the context of ongoing skills devolution.

Funding

The project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UKRI, through the New Investigator Grant scheme.

Project lead

The Principal Investigator is Dr Sanne Velthuis.