May events: Green skills and your workplace

All upcoming Cynnal Cymru events can be booked via Ticketsource

Session 1: What do we mean by green skills and why are they needed?

Tuesday 14th May | 1pm | Online

Hosts: Karolina Rucinska and Camille Lovgreen

Green economy, green jobs, and green skills! What’s the difference and what do they mean in practice? Are these just for engineers and energy specialists or can anyone acquire these skills? Why they matter to every business and how they can help address changing legislation around energy, waste and social impact?

 ‘Green skills’ are the competences required to create greater resilience and adapt to an environmentally flourishing and socially just present and future. Noticeably, these skills are broad and vary from technical to soft skills. kills. Yet, many soft skills, ranging from the ability to think creatively, empathetically and analytically are crucial for transition as they enable a reimagination of current ways of doing to allow new system designs that addresses the challenges we face as a society.

This session will:

• Unpick key terms related to green skills so we can all better understand the skills we need for a future-fit society – how to nurture them and why they are important. It also outlines the main Welsh organisations that provide training and support in relation to climate, nature, and social justice.
• touch upon opportunities associated with green skills.
• provide useful names of organisations and resources to employees and employers alike.
• explore how green skills can help stay ahead of different legislation for environmental protection and just workforce conditions.

And of course, the session gives a chance to exchange contact details to make the most of this networking opportunity!

Session 2: Green recruitment and inclusive job descriptions

Tuesday 21st May | 1pm | Online

Hosts: Karolina Rucinska and Camille Lovgreen

This session focuses on how to rewrite job descriptions to be more inclusive and attract a wider pool of green talent, emphasizing skills beyond just technical expertise. It will cover:

• Identifying Unconscious Bias: Recognise language that might exclude potential candidates with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and communication styles. Offer alternatives for commonly biased terms and highlight the value of empathy and cultural understanding in sustainability work.
• Highlighting Green Skills: Showcase the specific green skills required for the role, including creativity in problem-solving, system thinking for holistic approaches, and strong communication skills for building partnerships with diverse stakeholders.
• Action-Oriented Language: Reframe job descriptions to focus on the impact of the role, promoting inclusivity and building a more sustainable future.
• Inclusive Hiring Practices: Briefly discuss strategies for ensuring diverse interview panels and accessible application processes, emphasizing the importance of recognising the value of different perspectives for achieving sustainable solutions.

Please bring your own challenges and experiences to share.

Session 3: Greening every job

Tuesday 28th May | 1pm | Online

Hosts: Karolina Rucinska and Camille Lovgreen

This session explores how every job in a company can contribute to sustainability goals, emphasising broader green skills beyond technical expertise. It will cover:

• Sustainability Integration: Discuss how seemingly unrelated roles can contribute to making the company more environmentally aligned and socially just. For example
  • Marketing & Sales: Highlight the importance of storytelling to engage customers into sustainability; and collaboration with design teams to ensure products and services are truthful and do not perpetuate overconsumption and inequalities.
  • Finance & Accounting: Show how life cycle costing and circular economy principles (system thinking) can be integrated into financial decisions; and how to ensure investments are ethical and for the long-term.
  • Workforce Development: Explore strategies for building a fulfilled, diverse and inclusive green workforce.
  • Front of house, shopfloor and admin roles: Highlight the importance of the client facing roles in demonstrating the sustainable values of any organisation; ; and highlight the value of the on-the-ground knowledge that can aide in creating realistic solutions.
• Everyday Green Practices: Offer practical tips for integrating sustainability principles into daily work routines, while promoting collaboration and inclusivity (people skills).