Archive for green jobs

Collaboration between Liverpool City Council and social enterprise provide green jobs and training

June 11, 2009 at 11:56 am · Filed under green jobs ·Tagged , , , , , ,

For months now, politicians and commentators have been harping on about how green jobs can provide both a way to tackle climate change and an avenue for unemployed people to find a new career. Finally, we are starting to see some action in this vein, and it’s in the north that the initiative is being taken.

In Kensington, Liverpool, the award-winning Clean Team is already a common sight for residents, as the team ensures green spaces and communal gardens are tended too. Now, the team is set to become even more prolific.

Three more members have been added to the team, selected from 43 applications for the positions. This just goes to show how keen people are to move into a popular, stable and expanding environmental sector.

The scheme isn’t just a way to keep the city clean and provide jobs; those three new team members will start NVQ level 2 qualifications in amenity horticulture too, plus health and safety, risk assessment and manual handling training.

This was all achieved by collaboration with Riverside landlords, keen to keep the land around their properties green; Local Solutions, a social enterprise that provides services in various areas such as training, anti-bullying initiatives, crime prevention and much more; and Liverpool City Council’s Transitional Employment Programme.

The scheme exemplifies what great changes can be made to the way we work in the UK through green and ethical industries. Not only has this programme provided jobs and training for local people, as well as cleaning up the area; it has also encouraged collaboration between local landlords, the City Council, and social enterprises. It seems that a fresh approach to the environment has fostered a fresh approach to valuing employees, providing them with training that will not only help them to do their job, but also empower them to move forward in a green career with training that can easily be built on. As well as that, it’s a fresh approach in terms of business, with a social enterprise rather than a traditional business providing services. Let’s hope that fresh approach is taken up in more areas to provide green jobs to people eager to work and develop careers in the environmental sector.

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs; Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in the UK.

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Boris promotes green volunteering (and takes a dive)

June 5, 2009 at 10:56 am · Filed under green jobs ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

You may think that London Mayor Boris Johnson is less suited to controlling one of the world’s most powerful cities and more to, well, just bumbling about, really. This month, however, Boris was able to combine his two roles in a particularly amusing way.

In order to promote volunteering, Boris was present at a clean-up project at the River Pool in Lewisham. The project was run by charity Thames21, which is committed to ridding London’s waterways of pollution and stagnation.

Whilst striding about importantly in the river, rolling up his sleeves and helping other volunteers pull out harmful plant Himalayan balsam, Boris stumbled into a deeper patch of the water and sank chest deep into the murky liquid.

As one on-looker proclaimed the tumble as “classic” of the Mayor, volunteers rushed to the floppy-haired-one’s aid. During an interview later, Boris said:

“In order to promote this (volunteering), I took the maybe ultimate sacrifice. I decided to fall in a very spectacular way.”

It wasn’t all self-deprecating joke, however; Boris had a serious message about volunteering. He said:

“Volunteering is good for individuals and great for London in tough economic times.

“By giving your time, whether a one-off few hours or a regular commitment, we can both help to make the capital a more civilised, pleasant place and reap the rewards of putting something back into the communities in which we live.”

Boris did not mention how useful volunteering, especially in an environmental project, can work wonders for your CV if you are looking to get into a green job or an ethical career. The experience and contacts gained are invaluable, so get volunteering and get on the ladder!

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs; Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in London.

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First ever green job survey depicts a booming industry

June 5, 2009 at 10:51 am · Filed under ethical jobs, green jobs ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

Finally, in the midst of the plethora of ugly headlines about redundancies, high prices and overstretched public services, there has been some good financial news. Even better, it comes from the environmental sector.

Reuters published its first ever Carbon Salary Survey in early June, and boy does it look good. A whopping 68% of green job holders said that they felt an increased sense of job security in the past few years, going against the grain of most industries, where workers are clinging desperately to their careers.

Most respondents in the survey put this warm, fuzzy and secure feeling down to increased enthusiasm from governments and businesses to go green and tackle the effects of climate change.

Being secure in your job, in the midst of a recession, is plenty to be thankful for, but wait; there’s more! The average salary in the climate sector came out at around £47,000, which is a promising indicator of a healthy sector.

The rapid growth of the green industry is partly due to government agreements to tackle climate change. In the UK, green jobs were given a lift by the EU agreement in December 2008 to source 20% of its energy from renewables by 2020 and to cut its carbon emissions to 20% below 1990 levels.

Now for a little patriotic pride; the UK remains the hub of the green job sector, with 28% of green business headquarters located in Britain. North America was close behind at 26%, with Europe at a close third with 24%. At least the UK’s flagging Prime Minister Gordon Brown has managed to hit one target; his pledge to keep the UK as an international leader in green technology seems to be in sight.

The Reuters survey goes to show one thing; that an environmental career is the way to go for stability, great salaries and progression up the ladder. The only negative aspect that the survey revealed was the fact that women, on average, still earn around 18% less than men working at the same level. So, girls (and open-minded boys), there is only one thing to do; check out the job listings on JuicyJobs and correct the balance!

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs; Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in London.

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North leads the way in green job creation

May 29, 2009 at 5:48 pm · Filed under green jobs ·Tagged , , , , ,

The talk of green jobs by politicians and industry commentators is enough to convince anyone that an environmental revolution is taking place in the UK, but so far, very little evidence of action has emerged.

There is, however, an interesting trend in green job initiatives. A great deal of activity is happening in the North when it comes to green job creation, whilst down south, attitudes to environmentalism seem to rarely extend beyond composting organic, free-range egg boxes for the begonias and only driving the four-by-four when absolutely necessary.

It is hardly news that some of the most exciting and vigorous trade, retail and policy-making is happening in the north. Though many southerners regularly adhere to the outdated notion that “it’s grim up north”, the actual picture is very different.

That applies to green schemes too. Whilst Oldham recently became a leader in green jobs, investment and technology, in Durham, the County Council’s planning committee has just approved a £1 billion green business park.

The 76-acre Durham Green Business Park is likely to create 5,000 jobs in the region, and will positioned ideally in the middle of the country’s major road and rail networks.

The park is a project of millionaire property developer David Abrahams. OK; Abrahams was last in the news for making dodgy donations to the Labour Party, but at least now he’s doing something useful.

He said: “I want Durham Green to be a model of sustainable development and sustainable jobs in the 21st Century.

“I have already pledged that any profits I make from the development will go to charity.

“This is corporate and social responsibility in practice.”

There now, the sneaky millionaire is making good, and the north seems to be overtaking the snobby south in its environmental efforts. Similar investment countrywide would be a great next step.

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs; Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in London.

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Green Party claims it will create a million environmental jobs

May 29, 2009 at 5:40 pm · Filed under green jobs ·Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Election fever hasn’t quite hit the UK yet, as the general public is still reeling from how much MPs have spent on duck islands, moats, pornographic DVDs and so on. The political parties, however, are already rallying around in preparation for the General Election that must come soon, as well as campaigning for the European Elections on 4th June.

So, it comes as no surprise that parties are making all sorts of promises about green job creation. As mentioned in a recent JuicyJobs post, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has been doing his bit to raise the environmental profile of the “I would vote for them in an ideal world” party. The Lib Dems, however, could never be greener than, um, the Green Party, for obvious reasons.

Yesterday the Green Party launched its new manifesto, detailing its “New Green Deal”, which most importantly claims that if in power, the party would create a million green jobs.

How would it go about that? Well, the manifesto, charmingly entitled It’s the Economy, Stupid, claims that the Green Party will completely change the way in which Britain’s economic system works, focusing on improving public services, tackling climate change and dealing with the recession, all of which would be achieved through a massive increase in taxation on the public.

A spokesperson for the Greens said:

“A low-carbon economy will bring social benefits like stability, energy security, sustainable jobs, better health, hugely improved public transport and so on.

“Fixing all these things means changing how the economy works.”

It wouldn’t be high tax, low carbon forever, the Greens are quick to assert – after a while, policies would begin to pay for themselves and so the high taxation would decrease in time.

The Green Party’s ideas are hardly new; the credit crunch has proved that investing in oil and debt whilst allowing people to borrow money to plough into unsustainable things simply drains the economy, which will eventually collapse. A party that truly would bring in these measures would be a godsend for anyone looking for a green job. The snag is, however, that it would require asking British people to pay more tax, much more, and that is something that has never gone down well in the past. Can it ever happen? Only the electorate can decide!

Author
Rachel Charman, a writer for JuicyJobs; Ethical Jobs UK – an environmentally friendly green job search board which offers free job listings to Environmental, NGO’s, NFP’s and ethical companies promoting green, fair trade services and support sustainable living.  For job seekers Juicyjobs can help you find the ideal ethical jobs in London.

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