Enabling Success: The Way Forwards for Green Skills Within our Sector

If you’ve spent any time in the environmental world recently, you’ll have noticed one phrase that keeps cropping up: Green Skills. It’s everywhere from government strategies, funding bids, and a key topic in every environmental conference agenda. But what does it really mean for those of us delivering work on the ground? And more importantly, how do we ensure we have the people and resources to meet the scale of the challenge?

Take the water sector, for example. With the start of AMP8, the demand for skilled professionals is about to skyrocket. We’ll need thousands of people to deliver projects ranging from habitat restoration to major infrastructure upgrades. The need is already here and it’s only going to get more pressing.

This isn’t just a numbers game. It’s about how we nurture and attract talent into the sector. We can’t afford to rely on chance encounters or expect people to ‘find their way in’ like so many of us once did.

Barriers

That means we need to start much earlier in the talent pipeline. Too many of us only discovered environmental careers by accident, often during or after university. By that point, it can feel as though many doors have already closed. We should be engaging with schools, colleges, and apprenticeship programmes to highlight the breadth of roles in our sector. Field ecology is one, yes, but there’s also project management, GIS analysis, stakeholder engagement, policy, and communications. If people don’t know these jobs exist, how can they aspire to them?

And then there’s accessibility. For far too long, voluntary roles have been treated as the ‘price of entry’. This model excludes so many people who simply can’t afford to work unpaid. Ruby remembers the financial strain of those early years, relying on lifts, staying with family and friends, just to make unpaid placements work. It’s no surprise that this remains the number one barrier people mention when trying to break into the environmental field. The sector is potentially excluding bright and motivated individuals who just don’t have the capacity to effectively enter the environmental field.

Opportunities

We must move towards a model that values people’s time and potential: paid placements, funded internships, and apprenticeships. These opportunities not only open doors for those who might otherwise be shut out, but also signal that this sector does take inclusivity seriously. It’s also time to recognise that university isn’t the only gateway. Degrees are valuable, but they do not always equip graduates with the practical, hands-on skills employers need. Apprenticeships and vocational training often provide better preparation for real-world work, while also opening doors for those who might never have considered or had the opportunity for higher education

From these alternative routes come fresh perspectives. A workforce drawn from a wider mix of backgrounds brings diversity of thought, exactly the kind of creative problem-solving our sector needs to tackle complex environmental challenges.

Creating opportunities that connect people to sectors requiring green skills is essential. Emma reflects on being introduced to the water sector by looking for environmental internships by finding an opening at a water company one university summer which hooked her interest. It is these kinds of opportunities that bring people into the sectors and allow young people to see what different roles can look like and their place within them.

These kinds of opportunities are powerful: they help people understand what different roles look like in practice, where their strengths fit, and how they can contribute to real-world impact. If we want to build a sustainable and skilled workforce, we need to multiply those touchpoints.

The Way Forward

The truth is, the transition to a nature positive world will only succeed if we get serious about skills. That means tackling awareness, accessibility, and inclusivity head on and not just because it’s fair, but because it’s the only way we’ll build a workforce big enough and broad enough to deliver real results.

We already know this transition is necessary. The only question is: will we look back in ten years and congratulate ourselves for building an inclusive, resilient pipeline of green skills? Or will we regret not acting sooner?

About the Authors

Ruby Falcus BSc (Hons), MSc Ruby is a Terrestrial Ecologist at Haskoning, coordinating ecology surveys on a wide range of large infrastructure projects. She also plays a key role in CIEEM, serving as member of the Early Careers Special Interest Group with a passion for encouraging financially disadvantaged students to enter the field of ecology and break down any barriers they may face.

Emma Sherburn BSc (Hons), MSc, C.WEM is a Decarbonisation Consultant at Mott MacDonald working within the water sector to embed carbon management in decision making and support lower carbon infrastructure. She also volunteers with the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust where she promotes people’s access and connection to nature.