Chapter UK and Ireland
Careers and Sustainability Working Group
About us
The Careers and Sustainability Working Group was set up in 2023 to aid collaboration between the many Chapter members interested in the intersection of work on sustainability, careers, employability and the rapidly evolving green jobs sector. The working group is equally interested in teaching and learning, research and employer engagement. There are currently some 180 academics and careers professionals on the group's mailing list.
The Working Group is convened by Dr Jonathan Louw (jlouw@brookes.ac.uk) and Dr Karen Cripps (kcripps@brookes.ac.uk) at
Oxford Brookes Business School.
Examples of questions we are interested in:
1. What are the business sectors and thus employment markets likely to face growth, decline or transformation in coming decades as a result of sustainability imperatives, and what implications does this have for university teaching ?
2. What are the technologies in which our students need to become proficient in order to be fit for the sustainability-oriented jobs of the future ?
3. What are the implications of the SDGs for the interdisciplinary nature of the graduate jobs of the future, and thus for the student learning of the present?
4. Where and how do the enterprise education and ESD agendas intersect, and what are the implications for our educational offerings?
5. How do universities best engage with business sectors and industries to understand the impact of sustainability imperatives on their jobs of the future?
6. How do developments such as these, challenge traditional models of graduate employability?
7. How do we as educators maximise the opportunities for sustainability-related placements and internships?
Working Group activities - webinars, conference sessions and projects
The Group offers some 4 webinars per year advertised via the Chapter newsletter and the Working Group mailing list.
Past webinar topics include:
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The Windō Platform for corporate Diversity and Sustainability reporting (with Oli Coles of Windō),
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The International Green Skills and Green Jobs Youth Consultation Report (with Quinn Runkle and Tori Morris of SOS-UK),
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AI Apps in Action: Enhancing Sustainability and Employability Skills (with Mohamed Saeudy of the University of Bedfordshire),
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Career Story Telling for the Sustainable Development Goals (with Dr Karen Cripps and Cathy d'Abreu of Oxford Brookes University and Dr Milena Bobeva of The University of Bournemouth).
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For more recent events, recordings and slidedecks see the Past Events section at the foot of this webpage.
All upcoming webinars can be found on the Chapter Events Calendar.
NEXT EVENT - 5 DECEMBER 12.30 -1.30 PM
Making Climate and Nature Policies Count - an online workshop from Hope for the Future
Passionate about climate change and nature? Join us to learn how you can use your voice to advocate for urgent and ambitious
action.
CURRENT COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT
Green Skills for Green Jobs - Collaborative Enhancement Project funded by the QAA (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education)
This project brings together universities that already demonstrate strong applied practice in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to explore, in collaboration with students and employers, shared approaches for enhancing the development of ‘green skills’ to support employability, graduate outcomes, and the economy's needs.
The project team consists of the University of Exeter, De Montfort University, Aston University, Manchester Metropolitan University, Students Organising for Sustainability UK and Oxford Brookes University (project leads). The QAA award was announced in February 2025 and the project expects to report in the summer of 2026. More information can be found on the QAA website.
COMPLETED COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS
A nationwide study into the supply of and demand for placement, internship, and graduate roles that involve “sustainability"
This research project was led by Oxford Brookes University in partnership with Windō (a platform that connects Gen Z with purpose-driven employers). It was supported by the UN Global Compact Network UK, and university partners that included The University of Exeter, Nottingham Trent University, The University of Surrey, Richmond American University London, The University of Westminster, The University of Bristol and The University of Stirling, Keele University and the University of Warwick
.
The data collection period was May 2024 to February 2025 and a report from the study was published here in July 2025.
A podcast featuring key contributors to the project and a PRME impact case-study are also available. Details of a webinar reflecting on the report findings can be found below
Subject Benchmark Statements (SBS), Sustainability and Employability
This project was led by Dr Mohamed Saeudy from the University of Bedfordshire and Dr Richard Howarth of Nottingham Trent University). It sought to
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assess the current role of the SBS in supporting and guiding current and future student employability within and through their related programmes of study
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examine the model of employability expressed and/ or facilitated by the SBS and the likely influence and impact of this
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examine the relationship of the SBS to other guidance, including the guidance related to education for sustainable development (e.g. within Advance HE and QAA, 2021, and that available from organisations such as PRME.
. The project group completed their work in mid 2025 and have published their concluding reflections.
How to make contact with the Careers and Sustainability Working Group
The Working Group is convened by Dr Jonathan Louw (jlouw@brookes.ac.uk) and Dr Karen Cripps (kcripps@brookes.ac.uk) at Oxford Brookes Business School.
Contact the convenors or other named contact people above if you would like to propose a new project, contribute to a current project, organise or publicise a relevant webinar or join the group mailing list.
The Group also has a Linkedin site.
Past Event Resources
Charly Cox of Climate Change Coaches: Equipping students as leaders with soft skills for sustainability (FEBRUARY 2025).
(This presentation was based on a a research project by Oxford Brookes Business School in partnership with Climate Change Coaches)
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Recording link Presentation slides
Shaun Walden - Head of ESG UK & Europe DLA Piper Business Advisory : Sustainability Skills and AI (MARCH 2025)
Recording link Presentation Slides
Sarah Webster - (previously Diageo and Britvic): The Sustainability Skill Set - Every job is a sustainable business role (APRIL 2025)
Recording link Presentation Slides
Sustainability in Early Careers Report - Reflections on Findings : With key contributors to the report: Oli Coles of Windo, Steve Kenzie of UN Global Compact Network UK, Steve Wallers of the University of Exeter and Karen Cripps of Oxford Brookes University. (OCTOBER 2025)
Jim Lescop, Founder of DecarbonEaser: How to supercharge professional skills development through running climate workshops (NOVEMBER 2025)
Recording Link Presentation Slides