Low carbon businesses across the South West are set to benefit from a low carbon, high skills initiative, worth up to £2.4m. The initiative has been funded in large part by the South West RDA (with a £1.2m investment) and will be co-ordinated by Universities South West. In partnership with numerous organisations throughout the South West, it aims to help the region in its move towards a low carbon economy through the provision of demand-led higher level skills for employees.
Whilst the South West has a highly qualified workforce, projections of future demand show that there won’t be enough people with the right skills for the low carbon industry. The number of job opportunities will increase at intermediate and higher skills levels and this must largely be met by people already in the workplace being trained. Following extensive working with businesses to identify their skills needs in the medium term, the first strand of the project will be to support product development to meet these needs. This will be followed by a second strand which will involve the delivery of the training solutions. The third strand of the project, which starts immediately, is the provision for 250 part-funded graduate internships available to businesses in low carbon related sectors.
In response to the recent designation of the South West as a ‘Low Carbon Economic Area’ in Marine Energy, the project will engage specifically with companies in this sector. However there is also demand for higher level skills in other low carbon related sectors, including:
- non-marine renewables, e.g. micro-generation;
- low carbon manufacturing;
- civil nuclear (new-build and decommissioning); and
- sustainable construction.
‘This project can be a huge boost to the regional economy and help to maintain the South West as the leading low carbon region. Only by ensuring that people have the right skills and abilities can we help companies win the substantial business opportunities that this fledgling industry presents,’ said Suzanne Bond, Executive Director of People & Skills at the South West RDA.
Jeff Brown, Executive Director of Universities South West, explains further ‘We have a proven record in the South West of success in working with businesses to deliver employer-led higher skills training. Over the last few years, we have run a Higher Skills project that has engaged with over 1100 businesses and delivered over 100 training solutions. It is our goal, through building relationships between low carbon businesses and universities and further education colleges, we will help create a skilled workforce that is able to compete profitably in this emerging sector. By encouraging businesses of all sizes to value higher level skills in their employees, so that they are able to appreciate the real benefits of future investment in training, the region will continue to lead in innovation in this sector.’
The project will be co-ordinated by Universities South West in conjunction with regional delivery partners RegenSW, SW Manufacturing Advisory Service (SWMAS), E&U Skills, SWRESP, the Association of Colleges, fdf and the region's Further Education Colleges and universities. To ensure that the application and allocation process for the internship placements is as simple as possible, the university runs graduate recruitment service Gradsouthwest will be acting as a portal for the initiative. To find out more about the benefits of having an intern work in your business or to either join the scheme as a business or as a graduate go to – www.gradsouthwest.com.