Training in Environmental and Eco Skills

The environmental and eco movement continues to grow, and people are becoming more and more knowledgeable about the planet and the climate, and how important environmental skills are to everyone. There are many courses available, as day and evening courses at local colleges, as full-time introductory courses, diplomas and degrees, and as weekend and week-long residential courses. Ask at the local library for information, or see if there is an eco-centre nearby, or an eco and environmental information officer at the local council offices.

Environmental and Eco Skills as a Hobby

Some people just want to brush up their environmental skills for use at home. This could be to make their homes more environmentally friendly – for example improving the insulation, fitting solar panels, using wind or water power, decorating using recycled or salvaged objects, or using more ecologically sound ways of cooking, cleaning, running the house and maintaining the garden. There are courses for many other kinds of eco-hobbies as well – keeping bees, creating a wildlife garden, cooking using hedgerow ingredients, art from reclaimed items – the options are almost endless. Part time day and evening courses are a good way to meet new people with similar interests, and learning new eco skills could save money too, for example in utility bills.

Environmental and Eco Skills for Children

Many children are naturally interested in the outdoors and the environment, and courses especially designed for children can channel these interests into practical projects, or projects that are simply just for fun. As well as giving children a good grounding in environmental issues, these kinds of courses will also help children to get more exercise and make new friends, and some of their new eco skills might rub off on friends and family too.

Environmental and Eco Skills as a Holiday

A number of charities run eco and environmental holidays, where volunteers help out by working on environmental projects, such as restoring gardens and landscapes or carrying out surveys of animals or plants. This gives people the chance to learn a new skill as well as have a low-cost and energetic break in the countryside, provides the charities with much-needed practical help, and gets information about the environment and the specific charities out to the wider public.

Environmental and Eco Skills as a Career

There are increasing numbers of jobs in the environmental and eco world, and there are full time and part time courses that can give access to a whole new career. The courses are available at all levels, from NVQs for beginners through to degrees for people who want to take their interest to a much higher level, and these courses could give the skills needed for people who want to change jobs, or who are unemployed and want a new direction.

Environmental and Eco Skills for the Community

Sometimes entire communities can get together and learn new eco skills for projects that benefit the local area – for example, creating a community garden or allotment from neglected flower beds, setting up a wind or water turbine to generate energy, or starting up and running a community recycling and composting scheme.