Building Climate Literacy into Skills Training – the Canadian experience

May 16, 2024

Roofers

Photo:  Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay

On Tuesday 14 May, GJA held an open meeting at which we were very pleased to welcome Dr John Calvert, from Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, to give what proved to be a fascinating talk on his work with Canada’s Building Trade Unions (CBTU) on the need for climate literacy in the work force.  

We also heard from GJA’s own Professor Linda Clarke, University of Westminster, who has being carrying out important work with the construction industry across a number of European countries.

This posting is to provides, in response to the requests of attendees and for those unable to be there on the day, links to the material shown at the meeting,.  These are:

We hope these prove a valuable resource for taking these crucial debates forward in response to the climate challenge.

Below, to set the context, is the text from the original meeting invitation, together with other associated links that may be useful.

Meeting Invitation Text

One of the strategic problems with making a green transition in the UK is the chronic skills shortages in key trades. But, making that transition depends not only on training up a new generation of engineers, plumbers, fitters, carpenters, retrofitters, heating specialists, designers across the whole range of occupations, it is embedding climate literacy into each and every course, so that apprentices and reskilling workers understand not only the technicalities involved in the jobs they will be doing, but the overall social imperative of doing them, and doing them well. This is a necessary part of re-educating and retooling our society at all levels so that the people doing the work to make the transition are also driving it throughout society.

 Dr John Calvert and Professor Linda Clarke have been working  with the Canadian trade unions to get climate literacy embedded into the new set of standards for training courses in the Canadian construction trade. In this meeting they will explain how that was done, and Linda will touch on current developments in the EU too. 

See also