Positive reactions to the launch of IEMA and City & Guilds' "all jobs greener" courses
The June issue of the environmentalist launched IEMA’s new “all jobs greener” courses, which have been developed and are being operated in partnership with respected training body City & Guilds. Judging by the number of enquiries received after the launch, the scheme is set to become a huge success.
Several organisations are already signing up teams of staff to become trained in how their role – regardless of specialism or level of responsibility – can have a positive impact on their organisation’s environment targets.
Meanwhile, several key IEMA-approved training providers have expressed an interest in adding the courses to their portfolio. Together with City & Guilds’ training infrastructure, the additional providers will help to ensure these courses truly support IEMA’s ambitions to equip every organisation with the right combination of environment skills across their workforce.
The City & Guilds’ sales force is promoting the courses to its client organisations, colleges and other training centres to help embed this streamed training programme into businesses’ development programmes and vocational training schemes.
IEMA has been calling for environment knowledge and skills to be incorporated into every job role for several years, and the launch of the all jobs greener courses is a game-changing moment for the Institute, as well as City & Guilds, businesses and the global workforce.
What sets these courses apart from general environment awareness courses is that each session is targeted according to the employees’ level of seniority and can be further tailored to sector, industry and role.
The courses not only enable businesses worldwide to upskill their staff to help them meet their environment targets, but they also offer IEMA members the opportunity to provide leadership in embedding environment knowledge into every role as they have the opportunity to deliver the training to their colleagues with the support of City & Guilds.
The ‘all jobs greener’ training courses
The all jobs greener collection of courses from IEMA and City & Guilds includes two formal qualifications:
- Working with environmental sustainability – aimed at the entire workforce, this level 2 qualification (equivalent to a BTEC first diploma) provides employees in any role with the knowledge to do their job in a greener way to support organisational environment goals.
- Managing with environmental sustainability – aimed at managers and supervisors, this level 4 qualification (equivalent to a BTEC professional diploma) provides an operational and strategic understanding of the environment and its effects on a team or function.
Both courses focus on the importance of resource efficiency; pollution, prevention and control; environmental legislation; the impact of transport; and how employees can support sustainability.
The level 2 course has seven hours of guided learning hours (GLH), and the training and assessment are usually completed in one day. Assessment includes a paper-based, multiple-choice test.
The level 4 course has 14 GLHs, and training and the short answer test can be completed in two days. Learners also have to submit a work-based report. Individuals can progress from level 2 to level 4 in environmental sustainability.
The portfolio also includes a strategy session for senior executives:
- Leading with environmental sustainability – aimed at leaders, this session gives senior executives, board members and investors a strategic understanding of the risks and opportunities presented by a changing environment and its impact on business operations.
