Today, it was time for another GlosGeog event. Our thanks go to Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire for very kindly offering to host this speaker session with Professor Kenny Lynch, Lecturer in Human Geography and based at the University of Gloucestershire. A livestream option was also organised so that those unable to make their way to the venue or located in other areas across the UK were still able to access the event.
After formally welcoming and introducing everyone, I handed over to Kenny to talk about ‘Skills for a greener future through geography‘. He shared the agenda for the session and a little background about himself and the University of Gloucestershire, before encouraging students to complete a quiz via a MS Online Form (https://forms.office.com/e/wKMRagMWWf?origin=lprLink), which revealed some rather interesting results.
On a scale of 1-5, how important is it to you that your future career will address an environmental issue? (average rating was 3.07).
Majority strongly agreed/agreed with the following statements:
- In my future career I want to make a difference to climate change.
- I want my future career to involve improving the world.
- I care about environmental and social justice.
- The environmental and ethical record of a company will influence whether I want to work for them.
27% of respondents included the word environmental in their answer to the third question (What is the first job that springs to mind when you are asked about ‘green jobs’?),
A range of skills came to mind when they were asked to identify a ‘green skill’. e.g. geographical skills; technological skills; critical thinking; practical skills; resourcefulness.
58% said that they had learnt the right amount about climate and the nature crisis at secondary school.
39% stated that making a difference mattered most to them.
68% felt that making a lot of money mattered most to others.
Next, Kenny displayed the below question and quote:
He outlined the basis for this criticism and stated that an open letter had been written to the Secretary of State for Education in early 2025, in which Dr Morgan Phillips commented that:
Later, Kenny posed the question, ‘What are green jobs?‘. He shared profiles and a short movie clip (https://youtu.be/rth-VM3kscE?si=0789-vvviT9_OzrC) of several graduates from the University of Gloucestershire to exemplify where a geography degree had taken them. Kenny projected a couple of slides, one relating to change over the last year and the other showcasing a number of recent headlines, which proved to be rather enlightening and prompted a few comments from the audience.
Kenny attempted to make the session as interactive as possible by asking students to consider the greenest thing they have ever done. Some students mentioned volunteering that they had undertaken, e.g. collecting water samples to monitor quality along a local waterway, whilst others talked about recycling activities.
Kenny defined green skills, green jobs, green attributes and green values. He challenged pupils to identify green jobs from a long list of occupations. Kenny demonstrated how some of the green skills referenced in the profiles and short movie clip could be classified into technical, transferable and geographical. He displayed a young person’s response and highlighted the need for us to be optimistic, proactive and forward-thinking.
Lastly, Kenny discussed how to get a green job. The slides that he subsequently showed pushed youngsters to reflect on their motivation, purpose, likes and interests, as well as providing some valuable advice for their next steps and links for further research. Kenny stated that he could be contacted via social media feeds or his work e-mail should anyone require additional guidance or support (@glosgeog.bsky.social; @lynchkenny.bsky.social; @glosgeog; @lynchinglos; klynch@glos.ac.uk).
In the remaining few minutes, I chaired a Q&A session. I started the ball rolling with a couple of questions for Kenny, before inviting contributions from the audience. These questions addressed many topical issues and provoked some lively discussion too.
Besides, Kenny brought along four copies of ‘Moving to higher ground: Rising sea level and the path forward‘ by John Englander to present to those students who were leading contributors or had the best questions. According to the Head of Geography, this was very timely wider reading material for this stage of their A level course too.
‘Concluding comments‘ from teachers and students can be viewed below:
Thank you again for a brilliant talk, I know our students got a lot out of it so I’m really glad other students can benefit too with this second event.
Many thanks to Kenny for giving up his time to inspire and enthuse several young geographers. They appear to have gained a lot in a short space of time; an insightful, relevant and purposeful afternoon. Staff and pupils at Pate’s Grammar School deserve a mention here as well; their hospitality and support were much appreciated.
