How daunting and frustrating it must feel to be a young person now - as climate change gathers pace there is more uncertainty about what the future holds. Furthermore, many feel failed by society and powerless to influence the direction of travel.
Although schools are tasked with preparing children for the future and providing the skills and knowledge for the transition to Net Zero, teachers often feel similarly ill-equipped to fulfil this role and uncertain how to guide young people towards the careers and jobs needed for the transformation.
So, how can this stalemate situation be overcome? Is there a way that young people can be given agency over their future careers? These are the questions that led to a group of people – from research, education and careers advice and with SEFARI Gateway support – to devise a novel method for positive action with young people and their potential future employers.
A Just Transition and Net Zero are priorities for SEFARI research, but little has been done to ensure this work reaches or includes young people, who will need to take ownership of future socio-economic transformations. The delay in mitigating climate change and the urgent need for a climate transition in all economic sectors pose fundamental questions on the role and mission of both research and education in our society. Recent reports showing that global greenhouse gas emissions have increased more than 60% since the first International Panel on Climate Change report on climate warming and its drivers led to eminent climate scientists proclaiming a “broken science-society contract”, where the previously held assumption that “science and knowledge lead to an improved understanding of our world for societal good and progress” is no longer valid. Scientists desperately need to find new ways to re-engage society in tackling the climate crisis, and young people – the newest generation of workers and decision-makers – are arguably the most important cohort to engage.
Supported by the SEFARI Gateway Innovative Knowledge Exchange Fund, researchers at The James Hutton Institute, teachers at Bertha Park High School (Perth) and career advisors at Skills Development Scotland, worked together to pilot a unique model for participative knowledge exchange.
In a one-day workshop, activities were devised that gave young people agency in co-designing, with research and industry experts, the pathways to climate transition and identify the necessary skills and jobs to deliver these outcomes in four major economic sectors: Agrifood & Environment, Engineering & Construction, Energy, Fashion & Clothing. This collaborative approach aimed to focus on the future, dispel fear and apathy, and inspire action with young people by breaking down barriers between traditional silos in education and other sectors.
The pilot event for this novel knowledge exchange method took place on 22nd November 2023 at AK Bell Library in Perth, with the support of different Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) Portfolio organisations (BioSS; The Rowett Institute; CREW; ClimateXChange). The event was attended by 69 S5 and S6 students from 11 schools in Perth & Kinross, Dundee and Edinburgh, as well as 40 people from business and research, and observers from Education Scotland and other third sector organisations. This was the first time that young people, the future workforce, were brought together with researchers and business experts to discuss challenges and drivers of change in key economic sectors.
Through this event, young people connected with academics and future employers, and were given insights into Net Zero challenges faced by each sector, while learning and gaining confidence in their own potential contributions. The event started with a thought-provoking overview from Meg Bartholomew (Heriot-Watt University) about ‘solving wicked problems’. Then, experts summarised the challenges and visions for climate transition in their sectors of Agri-Food & Environment (Mike Rivington, The James Hutton Institute), Energy (Ewan Edwards, Xodus environmental consultancy), Engineering & Construction (Rwayda Al Hamd, Abertay University), and Clothing and Fashion (Lynn Wilson, Circular Design Consultancy). The attendees moved into sector-specific workshops where young people worked with business and academic experts to explore pathways for achieving climate-resilience in each sector and the skills and jobs needed to facilitate the transition.
At the end of the workshop, young people put forward their recommendations for education, industry, and policy - such as more opportunities for school-industry-research collaborations and novel subjects in the school curriculum (e.g., practical skills).
Wordcloud of recomandations of young people for policy
The event benefitted all groups of participants:
- Surveys before and after the workshop showed an attitude shift in young people from anxiety to positive solutions, highlighting a feeling of empowerment created through the participative approach. While, before the workshop, young people described how they felt about event with words such as “nervous”, “cautious” and “anxious”, after the workshop they described their feelings with words such as “informed”, “enlightened” and “hopeful”.
- For researchers, the event was a novel way to collaborate with an often-overlooked stakeholder group, arming them with knowledge and skills to translate research into transformative action for climate resilience.
- For businesses, it provided a novel means of connecting with their future workforce, and learning how they can support the next generation to develop skills for the climate transition.
- For schools and careers advisors, the event highlighted how the education system could be adapted to give young people the skills and training they need for their future careers and livelihoods.
Responses of business and industry workshop participants to the survey question “Participating in this activity has helped me to:”
This cross-sector, multi-actor and multi-generational collaborative approach was a completely new way of engaging stakeholders that are rarely brought together, allowing cross-fertilisation of ideas and addressing their needs. In a time of polarisation and populist backlash against climate transition, it offers hope that we can find new ways to restore the “broken science-society contract”.
So what next? Our priority is to make sure the young people’s recommendations are communicated to decision-makers in education and policy. But, just as important, we believe is there is huge scope to develop and widen access to this unique knowledge exchange method further for empowering young people and building confidence in their futures. We will be looking for opportunities to test this initiative in different sectors, other challenges and new regions. Therefore, if you have ideas and would like to be involved, find out more by listening to our podcast, and please do get in touch:
David Boldrin [david.boldrin@hutton.ac.uk] and Alison Karley [alison.karley@hutton.ac.uk] (The James Hutton Institute),
Katrina Cuthbertson [KCuthbertson@pkc.gov.uk] and Linda Birrell [LindaBirrell@pkc.gov.uk] (Bertha Park High School, Perth),
Maxine Scott [Maxine.Scott@sds.co.uk] (Skills Development Scotland).
Title photo: Students discussing climate-transition in the engineering sector during the workshop, by Ali Karley.