Circular Economy Challenge helps prepare local pupils for the jobs that don’t exist yet

Around 85% of the jobs that today’s learners will be doing in 2030 haven’t been invented yet, according to a recent report published by the Institute for the Future.

This presents an interesting challenge for educators preparing young people for their future careers.

The Circular Economy Challenge, delivered within four primary schools in West Lothian and hopefully to be rolled out to more schools, focuses on the concept of the Circular Economy, where the economic system aims to eliminate waste and continually re-use resource - a vital topic for the foreseeable future. It is an annual challenge that incorporates teacher-led learning about the circular economy and enterprise; an employer-led workshop; design of a product or service that adheres to the principles of the circular economy and a final showcase event where small teams of pupils pitch their idea to a business panel.

Delivered by Veolia (an industry leader in environmental solutions with several sites in West Lothian) and Young Enterprise Scotland, the Challenge is designed to provide a real-life context for learners. Veolia’s workshops are fun, engaging and interactive, providing the perfect ‘hook’ for the teachers to get the pupils involved in the challenge.

Making links between pupil's learning and the world of work is an absolutely crucial component of the Developing the Young Workforce Programme, which engages with employers to develop school-industry partnerships, whereby the employer engages, collaborates with or influences the curriculum.

One primary school teacher commented on this year’s Challenge: “It provided a perfect opportunity for the children to easily link their learning to the wider world. Across the weeks I observed the children work effectively in teams, discussing and evaluating ideas, compromising, developing confidence, showing determination to succeed and developing resilience. Aiming towards a final where the children had to compete against other schools provided a real goal for them to focus on and kept them fully engaged across all weeks. The children absolutely loved the challenge giving it two thumbs up when I asked if they would be happy to do it again.”

The true testament to the success of partnerships like this is the feedback we receive from the pupils themselves. The collective feedback is overwhelmingly positive, but one pupil’s quote really stood out for me. When asked what they learned from participating in the challenge: “I’ve learned that you can’t fly solo”.

It’s fair to say that – no matter what jobs are yet to be invented – this will always remain a valuable skill for life, learning and work.

Developing the Young Workforce West Lothian are looking to expand the Challenge to more primary schools. Primary schools can find out more about the Challenge here: yes.org.uk/programmes.php?sid=42 , where teachers can also register their interest.

This article is contributed by Developing the Young Workforce West Lothian. Developing the Young Workforce want to transform how businesses and education engage in West Lothian. See www.dyw-wl.com