Developing Green Skills to Futureproof Business
SOLAS IS DEVELOPING A RANGE OF GREEN SKILLS PROGRAMMES TO ENSURE EMPLOYEES HAVE THE SKILLS TO COMPETE IN A LOW-CARBON, RESOURCE-EFFICIENT AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Climate change and sustainable development are a key focus for Further Education and Training (FET) to harness its strong capabilities in energy, building and the environment in order to make an impactful contribution to the Government’s call to action on climate change. Companies need to ensure their employees have the right skills to compete in a low-carbon, resourceefficient and circular economy.
In response to the ongoing critical challenges businesses are facing, SOLAS is developing a range of green skills programmes in collaboration with the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and strategic partners Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Irish Water and Regional Skills Fora.
QQI ACCREDITED QUALIFICATIONS
These Skills to Advance programmes include
QQI accredited micro-qualifications at Level 5 in the areas of Environmental Sustainability in the Workplace, Lean Practice for Sustainable Business, Resource Efficiency in the Workplace, the Circular Economy, Sustainable Procurement and Greening the Supply Chain. These programmes are of short duration, stackable and will be delivered in a blended learning format incorporating tutor-led support and provide access to online digital resources that will enhance and support the learning experience.
Mary Lyons, Director of Enterprise, Employees and Skills, SOLAS, commented: “The focus on agile upskilling to futureproof our workforce in vulnerable occupations, businesses and sectors and to optimise opportunities in emerging areas, is central to the core mission of the Skills to Advance initiative. Businesses can avail of Skills to Advance development opportunities that will help their business into the future to help develop that agile workforce.”
To ensure all learners participating in FET can develop green skills, a Level 4 Environmental Sustainability Awareness module has been developed and will be rolled out by the ETBs from autumn 2022.
LEARNING NEW SKILLS
The Level 5 programmes are being developed under the Skills to Advance initiative and will be delivered by the 16 Education and Training Boards around the country. The initiative supports ETBs in embedding a strategic, consistent, and structured approach to enterprise engagement to meet enterprise and employee skills needs.
In the last three years, over 35,000 employees have benefited from upskilling opportunities provided by their local ETB through Skills to Advance. This initiative assists employers to develop new skills in their teams, improve their cost savings and competitiveness through highly subsidised training.
For employees, Skills to Advance provides upskilling opportunities to develop new skills in emerging areas and futureproof their jobs.
For further information contact your local ETB or visit www.skillstoadvance.ie.