Green Industries Wales, the independent collaboration and discovery network for the green economy in Wales, recently announced its inaugural Hybrid Skills Council meeting, bringing together Wales’ leading organisations and individuals focused on the green skills agenda.
Jay Sheppard, the Marine Energy Project Manager at Marine Energy Wales chats to Business News Wales about the Green Skills Council.
Jay said:
“The Green Skills Council is an important first step to putting in place the kind of action to develop the skills we need for this industry in Wales.
I hope that it will bring together a joined up approach that brings together different actors from different industries, as well as covering all the different regions in Wales.”
Jay has a background in interdisciplinary environmental sciences, having studied and undertaken research addressing contemporary environmental challenges in the UK, Canada and Denmark. Over the years he has also built up a diverse range of project management experience spanning hospitality and live events, community radio, an environmental non-profit and a green tech start-up. One of his main areas of interest is the merger of sustainability with business management, which has now drawn him into the world of marine energy where he hopes to apply his diverse set of skills and experience towards advancing the interests of this growing sector.
Aligned to Green Industries Wales’ core objective, this first session took place at 10am on Friday 1st October, with a focus on connecting organisations and individuals to shine the spotlight on existing green skills-based projects, ventures and schemes across Wales – identifying collective challenges and opportunities, exploring areas for knowledge share and collaboration.
With most industry and government experts predicting decarbonisation targets being met through a blended solution of energies – harnessing the power of Biomass, Carbon Capture, Geothermal, Fuel Pumps, Fusion, Hydro, Hydrogen, Solar, Tidal and Wind technologies – question marks remain on the skills and competencies needed to give Wales a future-proofed talent pipeline capable of enabling this green transformation.
The timing of the inaugural Green Skills Council in October could not come at a more pertinent time, following last month’s UN Climate Change Report by the IPCC signalling “code red for humanity” – and ahead of the COP26 Conference in November, which will bring together the nations of the world to work towards common decarbonisation targets.
With major Welsh-based employers such as Airbus, BOC, Costain, DOW, Dwr Cymru and Wales & West Utilities working increasingly closely with academia to find the right way forward in terms of both the energy and human resource – and with government working at all levels to establish a common approach to the future of energy in Wales – the initial findings from this first Hybrid Green Skills Council are sure to inform both debate and action plans, as industry and education begins to shape workforce planning for a Greener Wales.
To find out more or participate contact [email protected]
