Dr Wayne Cartwright China – NZ Modern Vocational Education Development Forum Hamilton, New Zealand 23 & 24 November 2015

Embedding Sustainability Principles and Green Skills into Modern TVET Curricula Dr Wayne Cartwright, Advisor to Wintec

Experience since 1992 Developing, teaching, managing, and advising in the field of sustainability, environmental care, and green skills University of Auckland MBA and MCom programmes Leadership of New Zealand UNESCO Decade for Education in Sustainable Development ( ) Development and advice for new TVET pilot Education for Sustainability programme content at Wintec Dr Wayne Cartwright

Pathway to awareness of need for sustainability and role of green skills Pathway to embedding green skills in current mainstream programmes Pathway to specialised programmes in green skills Pathways for TVET Developments in Green Skills and Sustainability

Pathway to awareness of need for sustainability and the role of green skills Students are introduced to The fact that human society, including the economy, is part of the biosphere – an integral part of ecological systems The processes of pollution and ecological degradation - and how application of green skills can help The fact that ecosystem services are essential to human living and working – and that green skills support them Students then know that the real meaning of sustainability is to prevent further ecosystem degradation from happening and to recover the health of ecosystems that are already degraded Dr Wayne Cartwright

Pathway to awareness of need for sustainability and the role of green skills Students also learn that Safe Planetary Boundaries are in bad condition globally and are even worse in some regions – the ecosystems essential to human living are not healthy This insight provides strong motivation to learn and apply green skills This Pathway can be either Embedded, by placing it in an early course in a programme – usually a course that is aimed at providing the introduction to the particular vocation or profession or Part of the first course in a specialised green skills programme Dr Wayne Cartwright

Pathway to awareness of need for sustainability and role of green skills Pathway to embedding green skills in current mainstream programmes Pathway to specialised programmes in green skills Pathways for TVET Developments in Green Skills and Sustainability

Pathway to embedding green skills in current mainstream programmes: principles This Pathway begins after awareness of sustainability has been established in an early course in each programme Green skills are learned by embedding them in selected courses in each programme Courses are selected on the basis that inclusion of green skills will enhance future employment In this way, teaching green skills becomes an integral part of the programmes very quickly, and at relatively low cost Dr Wayne Cartwright

Pathway to embedding green skills in current mainstream programmes: implications for TVET This Pathway applies potentially to all programmes in TVET Some programmes provide far more scope than others for inclusion of green skills However, all programmes have opportunities for green skills, and consideration of how future work will be affected by sustainability These developments make all of TVET relevant to a future in which green skills will be universal and pervasive – the ‘new normal’ Within this wide potential it is sensible for TVET providers to prioritise and schedule the programmes in which they embed green skills Dr Wayne Cartwright

Pathway to embedding green skills in current mainstream programmes: employment opportunities The employment opportunities for students graduating from programmes modified in this way are enhanced They will have knowledge and skills that are well aligned with a future world that needs the outcomes from applying green skills Students who do not have opportunities to study in programmes in which green skills have been embedded will soon become increasingly disadvantaged Dr Wayne Cartwright

Pathway to embedding green skills in current mainstream programmes: examples of green skills Programme CategoryGreen Skills (examples) Food production and processingSoil health and erosion control Production system alignment Water efficiency and retention Chemical run-off reduction Effluent management Crop/forage selection Solid waste management GHG mitigation Energy efficiency Market change resilience Dr Wayne Cartwright

Pathway to embedding green skills in current mainstream programmes: examples of green skills Programme CategoryGreen Skills (examples) Built environment and constructionGreen design Planetary foot-print reduction Materials selection and substitution Energy efficiency and self- sufficiency GHG mitigation Climate change risk mitigation Site effluent management Solid waste management Similar lists can readily be constructed through analysis of any other TVET Programmes Dr Wayne Cartwright

Pathway to awareness of need for sustainability and role of green skills Pathway to embedding green skills in current mainstream programmes Pathway to specialised programmes in green skills Pathways for TVET Developments in Green Skills and Sustainability

Pathway to specialised programmes in green skills New specialised programmes in green skills will establish career paths for people to work as advisors and to assist with change and development in organisations These employment opportunities will require specialist employees with knowledge of green skills and also the techniques required to introduce them These introductions will often be in circumstances where people need encouragement to adopt shifts to green approaches Dr Wayne Cartwright

Pathway to specialised programmes in green skills Current examples of occupations: Environmental conservation and management specialists, usually employed by state/government agencies Technical consultants and advisors in assessment of water quality, effluent flows, gaseous emissions, soil condition, and energy efficiency Specialist advisors and technicians in solar energy, wind energy, smart grids, green farming systems, and waste management systems Growth and expansion of this Pathway will be rapid It requires very careful assessment of future needs for specialist occupations Dr Wayne Cartwright

Assessing future TVET needs for green skills: suggested approach by TVET providers Assessment of future needs is required by both Embedded and Specialised green skills developments in TVET There are two generic questions Which green skills must be introduced to current programmes to ensure that they meet future employment needs? What specialist green skills programmes should be introduced to meet future sector needs? Methods that project employment growth based on current conditions – used by many TVET providers - are unsatisfactory because they do not recognise the major future changes that are shaping the needs for green skills Dr Wayne Cartwright

Assessing future TVET needs for green skills: suggested approach by TVET providers Viewpoints of current employers – also used by many TVET providers - are also unreliable and insufficient Most employers are unable to recognise the long-term changes that are occurring in their sectors, and therefore underestimate the future needs for green skills Instead, TVET providers should base their assessments on understandings from future insight analysis that indicates how major drivers of change are shaping entirely new needs for green skills Dr Wayne Cartwright

Learning and teaching methods for green skills and sustainability TVET teaching of green skills uses a range of methods Recent experience at Wintec has combined classroom teaching and guided discussion groups with application of electronic technology This is used for class preparation and for after-class reflective study, including on-line student forums Electronic links stimulate student interest and provide essential information for student assignment work Designs for assignments and reports have been effective in student learning Class materials, assignment specifications, and Moodle packages are available Dr Wayne Cartwright

Special aspects of green skills quality assurance The most challenging aspect of TVET green skills quality is ensuring that curriculum design and content is up-to-date Green skills curricula and content must adapt continually to the dynamic conditions of sustainability and emergence of new technologies Guidance for this adaptation should come from robust future insight analysis It is suggested that the processes of future insight and adaptation be shared through specific TVET provider collaborative arrangements Quality assurance of green skills teaching is standard Dr Wayne Cartwright

Conclusion TVET in green skills and sustainability is essential and will grow very rapidly A Pathways Model is suggested for these TVET developments The core motivation for learning green skills is awareness and understanding of sustainability and the reasons for pollution and ecological degradation There is a clear distinction between teaching green skills through embedding in existing programmes, and through introducing specialist programmes Both are needed Dr Wayne Cartwright

Conclusion The most rapid gains in green skills will be made through the embedding approach Assessment of future needs for green skills TVET developments requires future insight analysis Teaching green skills can usefully combine classroom teaching and guided discussion groups with application of electronic technology, and practical work Dr Wayne Cartwright