Curiosity Connections Green Futures

The West of England Combined Authority is funding the Inspire Sustainability team at UWE Bristol to engage local children with the Green careers needed to achieve Net Zero.

The Curiosity Connections Green Futures project, running from May 2024 to July 2026, will use real-life local role models to inform and inspire local children about Green jobs. 

“What do you mean by a “Green” career?” 
“Do you have to like gardening or work in recycling?” 
“How do you get those Green-y jobs?”  
(Questions from local children)

The new resources will seek to answer these questions – helping children across the West of England to understand what job opportunities there are to build a sustainable future for our planet, and how their skills are crucial to that transition.

New partnership to reach thousands

SCU’s Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers is leading the project, and bringing together local networks to identify a diverse array of local people in Green jobs to feature in a top-trump card set. Collaborators include:

• Curiosity Connections – the hub for primary science teachers and science communicators in the West of England
• The Natural History Consortium - who work with nature employers and run the annual Festival of Nature in Bristol and Bath
• My Future My Choice – innovative education services
• Graphic Science – who manage the local science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Ambassador Network

Green Job card pack

The new project draws on the success of the Engineering Curiosity top trump card set released by the Inspire Sustainability team in 2021, funded by the Digital Engineering and Technology Innovation programme. Those cards have been an incredible resource in highlighting career options and the Inspire Sustainability team hope to do the same, on an even bigger scale, with the new Green Job cards.

The aim is to show not only the great expanse of Green career options, but also that people from all backgrounds can enter these careers. So the card pack will showcase diverse local people at all career stages, from entry level to CEO, who’ve taken varied career pathways.

The cards will form the basis of a hands-on green careers kit, deployed by UWE Bristol’s outreach experts in 100s of pop-up sessions and whole school events in the next two years. Sessions will be tailored for both primary and secondary school classes, with additional mini-Green summits specially designed to effectively engage children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and in alternative learning provision (ALP).

To maximise awareness and support for Green careers, the project will involve families wherever possible, and this will be a particular focus at big events, such as the Festival of Nature in Bristol and Bath.

Green ambassadors will go into schools with the UWE Bristol team to inspire children face-to-face. And online resources will expand on the card profiles, with extra careers information and guidance enabling children to understand how a Green career could fit their interests and skill set.