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What makes a career green?

This document brings together views on what makes a career green as discussed by intergenerational groups at MEEN's AGM in November 2024. The aim was to explore the definition of a 'Green Career' and to define the criteria needed for a 'green' job.

The event was prompted by the understanding that our working lives need to be less damaging to the environment. However, it was also explained that the government is attempting to identify 'green' jobs but are themselves unclear as to which criteria to use.

The session included speakers Karen Rogers, an ecologist from Natural England; pupils from Levenshulme High School; Patricia Spray from Treestation; pupils from Cedar Mount High School and Ric Frankland from Wudl. They all shared their experiences and ideas about what a 'Green Career' might look like.

Inspired by these talks and group discussions the 40 participants generated the following criteria on how to decide whether a job can be called 'green'.

Environmental credentials

Green careers need to minimise their impact on the environment. Therefore, the jobs and the company hosting the jobs need to demonstrate they:

  • Are carbon neutral to mitigate climate change and/or be able to sequestrate carbon;
  • Embrace low tech/renewable energy;
  • Are able to prove biodiversity net gain in the local vicinity of the company;
  • Monitor and ensure minimal pollution;
  • Are reducing the amount of resources used and adapting resource use by understanding from where materials are sourced from whilst practicing a Circular Economy;
  • Recycling/reusing as much as possible;
  • Are able to balance consumption and production against these criteria.

What should a 'Green Career' look like?

Green careers should be:

  • Recognised for their importance so be well-paid, long term and sustainable, which will, in turn, raise the profile of green careers.
  • Able to show a net outcome which is better than when the job started showing long term planning and measurable impacts.
  • Decentralised so increasingly local and small scale.

A climate of culture change

For green careers to be truly 'green' it was generally agreed that a culture change in companies and organisations was necessary. However, it was recognised that if the aim is for every job to be a 'green' job there may need to be a mixture of light-mid-dark green careers.

This culture change includes:

  • Needing data and research to ensure that jobs are green and to avoid greenwash;
  • Providing training based on the research;
  • Providing education on green careers in school;
  • Having contact with other people working in green careers to network and learn.
  • This culture change needs to:
  • Have young people leading on sustainability so that it can become main-streamed;
  • Embrace not only knowledge but also people's passions;
  • Find ways to have sustainability in our hearts as the ethical standard;
  • Ensure that everyone is ready to keep learning;
  • Help others feel 'greener' by keeping them connected to nature to improve mental health and wellbeing;
  • Enable people to see the bigger picture.

For a career to be designated as 'green':

  • The overall focus of the business should be on sustainability;
  • Sustainable practices should be evident at every level of a company;
  • The job should be able to evidence that it has improved the state or condition of the environment;
  • The role needs to be able to challenge existing protocols for sustainability;
  • The role needs to go above and beyond compliance to challenge and improve practice.

The above summary is brief, but it captures many nuances about 'Green Careers' with a specific focus on needing to see a culture change in relation to work and education, whilst highlighting the need for on-going research to be done on these issues to ensure that whatever we do we are taking the right approach. 

MEEN would like to thank all the contributors for their participation. 

 

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