Meet Nick Backstrom, Project Support for Greener Sussex
This month we’re talking with Nick Backstrom, Project Support for Greener Sussex, a Sussex-wide initiative responding to employment needs in the growing green economy by building collaboration between local colleges and employers…
How did Greener Sussex come about Nick?
The Department for Education has a Strategic Development Fund to promote innovative collaborations of Further Education providers. Their funding enables programmes that support local innovation and growth by meeting emerging employment needs with changes in local teaching, training facilities and provision.
In Sussex we identified a huge growth opportunity in the green economy and made a successful region-wide application for £7m of Department for Education funding that has enabled us to create the Greener Sussex programme.
What is the aim of Greener Sussex in a nutshell?
The aims of Greener Sussex are ambitious but simple. We want to ensure that we are skilling up the students of today to meet the green economy needs of today and tomorrow.
The UK’s net zero goals are something to be proud of but we can only meet them if we have a workforce with the right skills. Greener Sussex is bringing local employers and education providers together to create the courses and training that will give local students bright future employment options in this exciting sector and local employers a plentiful pool of local talent. It’s the ultimate win-win.
How many colleges are working together to deliver the Greener Sussex programme?
The Greener Sussex programme is a true pan-Sussex initiative that involves all of FE Sussex’s member colleges. Working together we have devised five projects that will meet the future skills requirements of employers and enhance the green awareness of the next generation of employees:
- BHASVIC is leading on developing carbon literacy and awareness
- GBMet is leading on electric vehicle technology
- Chichester College Group is leading on alternative energies and hydrogen technology
- Plumpton College is leading on green technology for land management and food production
- And East Sussex College Group is leading on the creation of a number of Sussex-based de-carbonisation academies
How are you working with local employers and why is involving them so important?
Working closely with local employers is integral to the success of Greener Sussex. It’s what ensures that the courses we are developing will meet their exact needs. Across the East Sussex College Group’s de-carbonisation pillar we have worked with over 25 construction employers and their input has been pivotal to both the content of courses and to the teaching facilities we’ve invested in.
What has been most rewarding for you about seeing this programme in action?
I think three things have really shone through for me:
- Firstly, just how much can be achieved with a truly collaborative approach. Over the past nine months over 25 new sustainability related courses have been introduced across FE colleges in Sussex – a phenomenally rapid response to the evolving needs of this growing sector
- Secondly, it’s been great to see employers and FE providers working so closely together. It’s how it should be. We don’t want to create courses that stagnate when the technology or sector moves on. Having employers involved in course creation ensures we are developing content that will always be relevant and valuable
- Finally, it’s been wonderful to see students waking up to the huge potential in this sector. Across the UK for instance 27 million homes need to be retro-fitted to meet new sustainability standards. Yet only 800 students nationally have qualified in Retrofit Co-ordination to Level 5. That has left the booming Retrofit sector tens of thousands of skilled workers short. When students hear these kinds of figures and find out that we’ve created the courses that can give them the skills employers are actively searching for, it really fires their imaginations.
How can careers advisors and teachers find out more about Greener Sussex?
The best place to start is the new Greener Careers Sussex directory on SLN’s Get Career Confident site. Here, in a single place, teachers, careers advisors and students can find out about all the courses in Sussex that link to sustainable and net-zero careers. The directory is categorised by the sectors set out by the Green Jobs Taskforce and all courses are searchable by education level (from 3-7).
You can also find out about the scale of the opportunity in this sector in SLN’s latest Labour Market Index report.
What would you say to any student interested in pursuing a career in the green economy?
I’d say go for it! I wish half the opportunities that exist today had existed when I was in their position. The green economy is booming and there are almost endless options for interesting roles that are both well paid and personally and socially rewarding. What’s not to like?
If you’re an employer and want to find out more about how to collaborate with colleges around the Greener Sussex programme, get in touch here.
To find out more about the SLN’s work with the Greener Sussex programme go here.