The market for green jobs is growing fast, with growth scenarios for Local London alone indicating a projected rise to 61,000 to 91,000 jobs by 2030. And while there will be sectors and jobs that will be heavily impacted by the transition towards a net zero economy and even disappear altogether, there is expected to be a net increase in the Local London area. This presents a dual opportunity for the further and higher education sector, who will be required not only to provide new entrants to the labour market but also to upskill/reskill those already in work to be able to meet the demand for new green skills. So the focus, ambition and work of the Local London Green Jobs and Skills Partnership will become ever more important and will be critical in enabling Local London to become a centre of excellence for green skills across several key areas, such as retrofit/built environment technologies, digital green skills, electric vehicle charging and green space provision.
Crystal Associates was appointed in January 2023 to lead on the industry consultation project, as part of the wider Strategic Development Fund (SDF) bid, supporting nine colleges1 in the Partnership with green skills provision. The main objective of our work has been to ensure the colleges and the Partnership are well placed to provide the skills and tools for local people to access the green jobs of the future. The scope of work has focused on the following career pathways:
- Building Information Modelling
- Computer Aided Design
- Electric Vehicle Charging Installation
- Ground source heat pumps
- Internal/external insulation technologies
- Photovoltaics
- Restoring and sustaining London’s Green Spaces
- Retrofitting
- Smart/sustainable infrastructure.
Given the timing of the SDF funding, colleges had mostly already settled on their respective pathways. Our consultation work has focused on assessing college facilities, the current and planned curriculum, staff skills and training, and industry engagement. This report is the conclusion of the work we have undertaken and provides a core set of recommendations for the Partnership moving forward.
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