The Hybrid National Skills Council

Louise Dixey Project Development Coordinator, Next Tourism Generation Project

"Our focus is to improve collaboration between the tourism industry and education, primarily to address digital, green and social skills gaps. We've already made our research on green skills gaps in tourism hospitality freely available - as well as developing key modules for both tourism education providers and industry, on subjects such as plastics, communicating sustainability, sustainable tourism, climate change and food waste reduction. This will be part of a larger open-access ‘Next Generation’ tourism toolkit that has just been piloted. We've had quite a lot of interest from further education colleges, some universities and third sector bodies like the Centre for Alternative Technology - and we're talking at the moment to the Bluestone Academy, who are also interested in this new resource.”

Chris Hare Head of Apprenticeship Policy, Welsh Government

"We have an opportunity to develop skills in a number of areas, including more domestic construction to support the green agenda. The green economy will be a strong focus in the new policy document and we’ve been talking to a number of partners as to how we will actually set up that policy. The last area - inclusivity - is very important. We need to show that the Green Skills Fund is inclusive, in terms of engaging with people from ethnic minorities and also gender balance. These particular jobs tend to be male-dominated and I’ve been working to ensure equality for all - as the green economy is for everyone.”

Nigel Hollett Director, CLA Cymru

“There’s so much ground to cover in terms of what we’ve been doing. Remember the Green Deal that was out there in 2010? It said that it was going to transform our country by developing renewable energy and better insulation of homes – ambitious but didn’t reach the desired outcome. So there's huge scope for the UK Government and Welsh Government to really try and join things up - and genuinely crack this now. I think we're all incredibly keen to see that COP26 is a great success - and we’re working closely with the Welsh Government in terms of the COP26 Wales events that are going to be taking place.”

The Hybrid National Skills Council

Leigh Hughes Chair of the CCR Region Skills Partnership

"We possess a culture of collaboration and innovation here in Wales which we need to repurpose through Green Skills to become solution and outcome driven to meet the needs of industry challenges of the Climate change. Enhancing by developing skills and knowledge to deliver solutions that combine technology and ecology to fight the effects of climate change should be seen as an opportunity to get ahead of the curve. Preserving the environment without sacrificing research, economic growth and employment offered by new technologies and embracing this challenge through learning from nature, our greatest engineer is the ambition and opportunity we should grasp through meeting the green skills agenda."

Jane Lewis (SBCD) Regional Partnership Manager, Swansea Bay City Deal

“We are working with employers and training providers across South West Wales to identify the skills gaps that we have now and what skills we need for the future within the Gren Energy Sector. Partnership with schools, colleges, universities and apprenticeships will be key, to ensure that people are aware of the opportunities that will be generated in the region over the next 20 year and to make sure that we are ready for the transition from the more traditional energy projects to the new innovative technologies.

The region has a number of innovative projects happening including three within the Swansea Bay City Deal programme and the Skills Partnership will be supporting those programmes by ensuring that we have the right skills in the region for the future. As an example, we’re working with the colleges and universities to make sure that we have the qualifications framework to upskill our existing workforce for the domestic retrofit programme, this is only the beginning and there is so much more to do.”

Sian Lloyd Roberts Regional Skills Programme Manager at North Wales Regional Skills Partnership

“Our main role is to give the employer a voice in terms of what the skills gaps are and what skills shortages exist in the region. We work really closely with the private sector to get a deep understanding of this In North Wales, a region that is home to 37% of Wales’ renewable energy capacity. Our role is to ensure that we have the workforce with the skills required to take up big capital infrastructure builds - focusing on speaking to providers to ensure that the retrofit qualifications are in place. I definitely think there’s more to be done to inspire young people to pursue a future in these particular jobs; and to achieve this we have to identify what Green Skills are needed. ”

Wyn Prichard Director of Construction Skills and Business Strategy at NPTC Group

“Every apprenticeship now has to be green! And I think we've got to look at skills and competency alike, because the key thing is that we can teach people and we can train people in skills, but we need to align them with the right apprenticeships and the right competency. This is something that needs to be seriously looked at, together with the experience and abilities of the training and lecturing staff. It’s important that the mentor has that experience to teach the students. Wales has been leading the way in a number of green initiatives and we have all the bits of the jigsaw, but to date we haven’t been very good at putting it together”

Shirley Rogers Director of Delivery and Development, Careers Wales

“We’re working with the workforce supply chain across the Green Economy - remitted by the Welsh Government to deliver, information, advice, guidance and coaching to young people across the region. One of the things that we’re really committed to is raising people’s aspirations - and it’s clear that we need to ensure our young people have the right information to understand the market going forward; giving them access to the skills they need to develop to grasp the undoubted opportunities that are emerging in this labour market.”

Grant Santos CEO, Educ8 Group

“Right now we’re engaging with experts in the Green Skills space to understand some of the challenges that lie ahead - and getting an all-round strategic-level appreciation of the wider landscape and whole green economy. Our aim is to know what the challenges are - and make sure we are in the right place, with the right skills and capacity, to face them. We need to act now and get both the curriculum and apprenticeship programmes in place, to develop young people and reskill our existing workforces - and we’ve created a project group to bring together key stakeholders, working closely with them to identify what that looks like.”

Jay Sheppard The Marine Energy Project Manager at Marine Energy Wales

“We already have a lot of offshore renewable industry activity based in Wales, but there's a lot of challenges to further develop the industry and bring it forward to its full potential- and skills is only one part of that puzzle. Yes, there are certain skills that will be needed to help develop and facilitate this industry. But it's not a straightforward kind of equation. There's a lot of moving parts and a lot of other issues that need to be considered alongside skills such as project consenting, ports and grid infrastructure, and financial support for early projects from treasury. We sit on a lot of boards and have many conversations with a wide number of stakeholders, we are talking to everyone in this space to find out exactly what their needs are to enable the growth of green industries in Wales.”

Magazine

The next edition or Green Industries

Wales Magazine will include the latest developments in Wales’ fastmoving green industrial revolution - indepth features on agriculture, aviation, the built environment, technology, and transport; the latest updates on renewable energy projects that are pioneering Wales’ transition to a green economy, and the industry leaders, organisations and visionary thinkers who are navigating Wales’ journey to net zero.

The magazine will explore the continuing expansion of hydrogen, wind, solar, and marine energy, carbon capture and storage, as well as report on the latest possibilities for nuclear, hydro and other key renewables.

We’ll be exploring who is leading the way in the decarbonising of our industries; how our ports are rolling out their bold new plans as key drivers of Wales green economic transition.

• How are our city deals contributing to the transformation of industries and the regional race to net zero?

• What are the latest technology developments that are driving the greener more sustainable Wales?

• How is Wales decarbonising its built environment through construction and making our current buildings more energy efficient?

• What part are active buildings, domestic refits and

‘smart’ towns playing in the new brave world that will deliver net zero?

• And how is transport - the biggest emitter of carbon of any sector in the UK - responding to the immense challenges it faces in Wales - from our public transport companies to our cars?

Answers to all these questions and more in the next edition of GreenIndustriesWales.

Issue Two Spring 2022

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