As part of Green Careers Week 2023, Kit Williams – Maritime Sustainability Skills Manager for Cornwall Marine Network and the Maritime Skills Commission – speaks with CMN’s Dean Hodge about the new Green Skills and Sustainability training provision launched by CMN, and the value that green careers can bring to businesses.

Introduce yourself and your role with CMN.

My name is Kit Williams and although I have been employed by Cornwall Marine Network (CMN) since April 2021, I have been the Maritime Sustainability Skills Manager here since October 2022.  Based at CMN’s offices in Falmouth, I lead the development of CMN’s Sustainability/Green Skills provision offer, working with organisations across Cornwall to develop team members’ skillsets and improve the sustainability efforts of organisations county-wide.

I am also seconded to the Maritime Skills Commission (MSC), where I lead the ‘Skills for Green Jobs’ workstream, a project being delivered through a partnership between the MSC and CMN, investigating the extent of the green skills shortage in the Maritime sector and helping to deliver the ‘people’ ambitions within Maritime 2050.

Green careers and apprenticeships are becoming increasingly prevalent. How do green careers work?

The joy with green careers is that they can be accessed via so many different routes.  You could train/study for a specific green career (such as an Ecologist). You could transfer into a green career based on relevant previous training/experience (an Electrician becoming a Marine Electrician). Alternately, you could even improve the sustainability of an existing role and evolve your chosen career into one which is more green and sustainable.  Apprenticeships are a fantastic way of getting into a green career as you can earn while you learn, develop green skills which are innovative, and become familiar with emerging technology and research.  As a former apprentice myself, I cannot recommend this route enough. It certainly helped me get to where I am now in my career!

“The joy with green careers is that they can be accessed via so many different routes”

We hear much of the environmental impact, but how do green careers have an economic and societal impact?

It’s not unusual to jump straight to environmentally-focused careers when you think of the term ‘green’, but green careers have such a wider scope. Within the three pillars of sustainability, you have Environmental Impacts, Economic Impacts and Social Impacts.  Green careers are recognised as careers which support and embed sustainability as a whole, they can include job roles such as a Project Manager or Sustainability Coordinator, and these careers can have a direct connection with an organisation’s environmental impact, the financial and economic growth, and the impact on the organisation’s workforce, customers and wider community.  So it becomes about the bigger picture.  You not only have green careers like a renewable energy engineer, climate scientist or conservationists. You start to bring in wider skillsets such as data analysts, logistics managers and educators, all of which can assist businesses and communities to adapt to climate change and its repercussions.  Any career has the potential to be green!

For apprentices / jobseekers who are considering pursuing a green career, what are the core transferrable skills that will give them an advantage?

Transferable skills are often recognised as soft skills or employability skills and can vary for each individual.  Project management skills can really take you a long way, as they incorporate budget management, communication skills, stakeholder management, and report writing skills.  But likewise, strategic thinking can make you an asset to any organisation as you demonstrate logical, justified approaches to problems and situations.  Above all else though, I would have to say that having effective communication skills in your repertoire is key.  You could have the most amazing ideas and be a dedicated, hard-working employee, but if you cannot communicate well within a team or with supervisors and management, you limit the true effect you can have on an organisation.  Develop effective communication skills and you can open up doorways for career progression and become an integral part of a team/organisation.

“The workforce’s morale can be improved massively as they see their employer organisation make a conscious effort to improve the working conditions and wider environment around them.”

What progression routes are available with CMN?

CMN deliver a range of Green Skills training from Levels 1 – 3, including both accredited and non-accredited training provision (all short courses).  So whether you are completely new to the topic of sustainability, or whether you have prior knowledge or experience of sustainability and all things ‘green’, CMN has training for you! Training is also created in a demand-led approach, we pride ourselves in listening to our member businesses and identifying the skills and knowledge gaps.  Training is developed based on this feedback and can also be made bespoke upon request. To make our training even more inclusive and adaptable, all of CMN’s Green Skills training can be delivered online, face-to-face, and for a closed cohort. With CMN, you can learn all you need to know to become carbon literate and confidently embark on a green career.

And for employers, what are the benefits of a green career that can apply to businesses looking to hire these type of roles?

Employers can bring in individuals who look to make a difference.  They could potentially acquire someone who could make their business operate more efficiently, harm the environment less, and grow rapidly.  The workforce’s morale can be improved massively as they see their employer organisation make a conscious effort to improve the working conditions and wider environment around them. Customers will see these efforts as a positive, and will respect the business in turn. New customers may even emerge having noticed the efforts the business is going to to become more eco-friendly and environmentally-aware.  A happy workforce will tell all their friends and family.  A happy customer will recommend a business to others.  Any business looking to incorporate green careers will only find positives!