International Youth Day 2023: Green Skills for Youth Towards a Sustainable World - The Role of Education

By Bliss Ojeruse

Source: UN International Youth Day 2023 Infographic

Education has a relationship with skills, and green skills are not left out. Hence, it is important as an organisation that advocates for youth education, leadership development, value reorientation and neighbourhood transformation to address this International Youth Day discourse from the angle of education as it relates to green skills for youth towards a sustainable world. 

In an International Youth Day 2023 Infographic tagged "5 Things To Know About Green Skills For Youth," it was captured that persons with university education obtain green skills quicker than persons with no university education. It also stated that less than half (45%) of NDCs mention green skills development in climate change education.

According to an UNDP report, "Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, are countries' self-defined national climate pledges under the Paris Agreement, detailing what they will do to help meet the global goal to pursue 1.5°C, adapt to climate impacts and ensure sufficient finance to support these efforts."

So, of less than 45% of NDCs mention green skills development in climate change education, it shows how import it is to include it. 

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), green skills are “skills needed in a low-carbon economy [and] will be required in all sectors and at all levels in the workforce as emerging economic activities create new (or renewed) occupations”.

In a report by University World News, it was revealed that global climate actors from researchers to university leaders, policymakers and civic society representatives met to discuss the urgent need to build on skills relevant in the transition to low carbon economies. This held on 17 November, 2022, during an event themed “Capacity building on green skills to enable local, regional and international climate action.” 

In this article, we will highlight some salient points from two of the Speakers that address the fact that education is important to drive green skills for the youth towards sustainable development.

One of them, Executive director at Ampak Nigeria Limited, Oluwakemi Ajakaiye, who conducted a study on the challenges and opportunities of green skills programmes and development in Nigeria and Western Africa, found that: 

-Green skills and environmental competencies are not widespread in the educational systems of West Africa, particularly Nigeria.

-Between 2018 and 2019, data collected across universities showed that of the 1.8 million students in tertiary institutions, just 2.49% enrolled and undertook undergraduate level studies in environmental sciences.

-At postgraduate level, only 1.49% of students pursued environmental studies. She added that the figure decreased further with only 0.9% of students at the PhD level opting for environmental sciences.

-As a result, a huge deficit and skills gaps in the labour force was created, with industry captains and business leaders unable to build green skills teams needed for environmental or climate-related projects.

-Some of the gaps in West Africa include a rudimentary awareness of green skills at basic education to university levels, a shortage of demand for green skills and a shortage of jobs in need of green skills in the career space. In addition, the rise of the informal sector lured a majority of youths away from acquiring skills in environmental areas.

-Some of the opportunities available to youths with green skills in areas such as recycling, geo-engineering and waste management.

Similarly, Professor Ali Hassan from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Environmental Research at Ain Shams University in Egypt, during his presentation on the role of higher education in the fight against climate change, reiterated the following:

-The world urgently needed more educated and green-skilled human capital in all sectors and job families of the decarbonised economy.

-“Education is in the frontline of the fight against climate change and every economy depends on the education system to generate the human capital needed for its sustainable growth.”

-“With the transition from linear to low carbon economies, higher education needs to adapt fast and lead the way to combating climate change. Climate change innovation is almost exclusively accomplished by those with advanced degrees.”

Learning from the Egyptian Educational System to Ensure Green Skills for Youths

According to Professor Ali Hassan,

-Egypt currently has over 67 universities and a majority of them have been tailored to specialise in solving problems, or enhancing the resources within the area in which they function, for example, oil and gas, marine biology and geology.

-The Egyptian educational system has enhanced its functions and introduced new curricula and programmes to include community and environmental services. This promoted a cross-disciplinary approach, with environmental sciences as the basis of studies across different areas such as law, engineering, agriculture and economics. 

-Academic institutions also embarked on programmes to upskill and reskill staff and faculty members to match curriculum development.

Some opportunities available to youths with green skills include areas such as:

• Agriculture
• Renewable energy 
• Recycling
• Geo-engineering and 
• Waste management.

Some Green Skills Needed for Sustainable Development 

Often times, green skills are being talked about, but a broad understanding of what these skills entail is important.

According to the United Nations, Green skills are “knowledge, abilities, values and attitudes needed to live in, develop and support a sustainable and resource-efficient society”.

These include technical knowledge and skills that enable the effective use of green technologies and processes in occupational settings, as well as transversal skills that draw on a range of knowledge, values and attitudes to facilitate environmentally sustainable decisions in work and in life. Due to their interdisciplinary nature, the essence of green skills is sometimes expressed, partly if not wholly, through other associated terms such as “skills for the future” and “skills for green jobs”. While green skills are relevant for people of all ages, they have heightened importance for younger people, who can contribute to the green transition for a longer period of time.

AimHi Earth has listed 15 Green Skills needed for sustainable development (see reference at the end of this article for expatiation on these skills):

1. Critical, systems & nature-centric thinking: Understanding our world as interconnected and interdependent, asking challenging questions of ourselves and of engrained normalities, and returning to putting nature at the centre of how we think.

2. Scientific understanding: Appreciation of the core scientific concepts underpinning the climate and nature emergency, from the Earth’s natural systems to the physics of the wider universe.

3. Nature connectivity: Embracing our fundamental interdependence with the rest of nature, and helping others around us to better connect with our living world.

4. Practical & technical “hard skills”: Specific expertise in the hard skills necessary to enable a regenerative future.

5. Long-term thinking: Putting future generations at the heart of all decision-making, and planning for evolution and resilience.

6. Dynamic operations & crisis management: Centering creative and adaptable management, to design dynamic and resilient systems.

7. Historical & cultural understanding: Understanding, respecting and learning from diverse global cultures and our collective history, from creations to crises.

8. Monitoring skills: Understanding and applying the latest tools and frameworks to report on key natural system impacts, from greenhouse gas emissions to the integrity of wild nature.

9. Baseline fallback skills: Knowing how to provide the essentials of life both in theory and in practice, for ourselves and our communities, to prepare for potential breakdowns in life-supporting systems.

10. Pioneer & entrepreneurial skills: Visionary and interdisciplinary building and doing; centering collaboration, cooperation and collective good.

11. Interpersonal skills & kindness: Communicating and interacting with compassion and empathy, guided by a spirit of commonality and kindness.

12. Informational skills: Awareness of the mechanisms and problems underlying the information we receive and digest, and a willingness and ability to scrutinise and organise information for others.

13. Defence skills: Harnessing altruism to establish systems of defence based on trust and mutuality, to avoid violence and build resilience.

14. Diverse thinking & non-neurotypicality: Thinking differently and radically about the way the world is organised, culturally and systemically.

15. Artistry & storytelling skills: The ability to conjure and shape compelling and inspiring stories, ideas and artworks, to guide humanity through dreams of what could be.

Recommendations on how education can be used as a tool to ensure green skills for youths towards sustainable development

From the sources referenced, the following are some recommendations:

• Universities need to adopt holistic, multidisciplinary and transformational approaches that address learning content and outcomes, pedagogy and learning environments.
• Education stakeholders should drive Sustainable Development Goals 8 and 9 to promote economic growth and decent work for all and to push the development of green skills in developing regions, particularly Africa.
• Green skills learning should be infused into the schools curriculum from basic to tertiary education.
• More young persons should be encouraged to pursue a career in any of the green skills.
• To achieve low carbon economies, regional leaders across sectors need to support a theory of change, uphold a systems approach, invest in human capital, promote green skills acquisition programmes and the training of various industry leaders.

References:

https://www.un.org/en/observances/youth-day

https://climatepromise.undp.org/news-and-stories/NDCs-nationally-determined-contributions-climate-change-what-you-need-to-know#:~:text=Nationally%20Determined%20Contributions%2C%20or%20NDCs,finance%20to%20support%20these%20efforts

https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20221123123756933

https://www.aimhi.earth/blog/what-are-green-skills-15-green-skills-clearly-explained

Bliss Ojeruse

Development Consultant 
Education, Gender, Social and Digital Inclusion Advocate 
Executive Director
Saving Hand Development Initiative (SHADE-IN)