1. Gizelle Mc Intyre Director Institute of People Development
Career opportunities for Youth in the Green Economy: Skills and Careers in this field
Gizelle Mc Intyre
Director
Institute of People Development

2. Purpose and Meaning
Choose a career path that provides you with a sense of purpose and meaning
What does sustainability mean to you?
The green economy is defined as an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological economics, but has a more politically applied focus.

3. What are ‘Green Jobs'?
Green jobs are occupations that work directly with policies, information, materials, and/or technologies that contribute to minimizing environmental impact, and require specialized knowledge, skills, training, and/or experience in these areas.
Technically speaking, in a fully sustainable economy, all occupations would have 'green' elements.
Green jobs are a combination of both new jobs and existing occupations that are being retooled with the skills to help reduce the impact of humans on the environment, promote sustainability, and encourage the efficient use of energy and resources.

4. Career Choice Options Do what I am good at
Do what suits my personality
Do what I am interested in
Do what I can find employment in
Do what is needed
Do what I believe is meaningful

5. Green Computing Smart Grid
Power Generation
Biomass/Biofuel
Geothermal
Waste-to-Energy
Wind
Energy Storage
Green Building
Building Performance
Green Real Estate
Green Interior Design
Air Quality Management
Fish and Wildlife
Forests - Forestry
Land Management
Sustainable Agriculture
Water Resource Management
Atmospheric Science
Earth Science
Ecology
Environmental Chemistry
Green Chemistry
Hydrology
Green Media
Eco-Psychology - Sustainability Management and Consulting -
Green Hospitality Ecotourism

6. Eco-Friendly Careers
The need for an eco-friendly world is changing the face of the job market and skillsets of workers. Trewin Restorick chief executive of the charity Global Action Plan forecasts 10 green jobs for the future:
Green call centre advisers
Green engineers
To provide expert guidance to households over the phone about how they can use their appliances more efficiently to save energy, water and money.
To tell you how much energy your appliances are using and how to use them more effectively, domestic engineers will not only repair your broken appliances but also give your house a "wattage test".
Smart travel co-ordinators
To implement new technology systems to cut travel time and congestion, enabling people to plan their journeys better, cut traffic jams and optimise journeys.
Water footprint managers
To calculate how much water a business is using and suggest more water efficient ways to produce goods and services.
Traceability managers
Virtual health support workers
To check the source for the products they sell, as concerns will grow among consumers about whether the goods they buy have been produced ethically and have been properly labelled.
To help patients monitor their health at home using digital technology, reducing the burden on the health service, cut the amount of time patients spend travelling into hospitals and speed up the recovery process.
Clean car mechanics
Retail energy specialists
To keep up with the changing world of motoring. In future there will be a whole new generation of cars from hybrids through to electric. Mechanics will be required with the skills to service and repair these cars of the future.
To provide customers with informed advice on which appliances are the most energy and water efficient.
Living roof and wall gardeners
To help these new green spaces thrive at they can cut local air pollution, better insulate buildings and increase biodiversity.
Landfill miners
To reduce resource costs rising as demand grows. Suddenly the stuff we have thrown away in the past will increase in value and will be 'mined' from old landfill sites.

7. Other Eco-Friendly Careers
Water Analysis and Advising
South Africa is a water scarce region, and there is a growing need for technologies and solutions that improve the efficiency of water use and management of water quality
Waste Sector Analyst
Energy Services Analyst
Communications
Project Management
Agriculture

8. Skills
Engineering and technical skills involved in the design, construction and assessment of technology. This type of knowhow is prominent for eco-building, renewable energy design and energy-saving R&D projects;
Science skills stemming from bodies of knowledge such as physics and biology. A Cedefop (2009) study indicates that these type of skills are in especially high demand at early stages of the value chains and in the utility sector;
Operation Management skills related to change in organisational structure required to support green activities through life-cycle management, lean production and cooperation with external actors, including regulators and customers (UNEP 2012);
Monitoring skills concerning the observance of technical criteria and legal regulatory requirements. Compliance with environmental laws and standards is especially important for firms operating in polluting sectors (OECD/Cedefop 2014).