Bringing Circular Economy Training to jobseekers.
Green Collect has been leading the circular economy sector for over 20 years, working for the benefit of people and the planet and finding new processes to increase the reuse lifecycle of common office and household items, as well as provide employment and on-the-job training for people who have experienced barriers to employment.
Through our active involvement and passion for the circular economy, we identified a strong and growing need for enhanced training and skills development opportunities for a wider audience – upskilling our staff and the jobseeker market with valuable 'green' skills.
This gap in the market is backed by the World Economic Forum and other reputable sources, who have identified green jobs are on the rise but the skills needed to help Victoria transition to a circular economy are minimal. This inspired our recent project, Enhancing Circular Economy Training Pathways, supported by the Victorian Government with a grant from the Clean Economy Workforce Capacity Development Fund.
Our goal was to create accredited and non-accredited training for multiple cohorts including Green Collect staff, jobseekers and individuals or organisations who need upskilling. While circular economy education exists, we found it largely focused on sustainability courses at a university level, ignoring the other tiers of learners who would benefit from this education. We also noticed that many of these current programs lacked an understanding of the practical ‘hands-on’ skills necessary, or what we call the ‘transformative resource recovery’ process.
As a medium-sized social enterprise with limited resources, a small budget, and no experience designing accredited training, we required extensive stakeholder support to effectively collaborate, design and develop the Course in Circular Economy Practices within a 15-month timeframe.
With will and determination, we delivered and exceeded the expectations of this project resulting in some ground-breaking outcomes including:
New curriculum and training resources in circular economy theory and practice, including four non-accredited modules and the first Course in Circular Economy Practices, which was recently accredited by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA).
Our own established learning management system, including online and face-to-face training.
More than 70 staff and jobseeker cohorts have completed different versions of these modules throughout the testing and implementation phase, providing this new formal training to Green Collect staff and beyond.
We intend to continue offering non-accredited training to a wider audience and explore more opportunities for program delivery and workplace implementation. In addition, we are working closely with the government and the TAFE sector to support delivering the accredited Course in Circular Economy Practices, a key upskilling course for green industries and other sectors looking to enhance green skills and knowledge within their workforce.
If you would like to explore opportunities for circular economy learning in your workplace, please contact us for more information.