Every practitioner in sustainability knows that they are a scarce resource. A new study by Arup for the Academy for Sustainable Communities confirms this, but also offers an excellent breakdown of which professions will be in most demand in future years and where geographically the need for skills is particularly desperate. On the professional front there is one pretty clear conclusion – we should all resign from our jobs tomorrow and become landscape architects.
According to the study, called Mind the Skills Gap in 2012 there will be just shy of one practising landscape architect to the ten that are required to meet the expected workload. The figures for regeneration and sustainability experts are hardly much more rosy, being around the one-for-four actually needed ratio. Geographically-speaking the South East, the East of England and the South West will all be short of skilled professionals, perhaps mirroring the bulging workloads in those regions.
So what’s the answer? The Arup report calls for a national drive to address the talent deficit and more research. This could work to a degree, especially with encouraging fresh entrants to new disciplines such as sustainability specialists, but I’m wondering whether the answer isn’t more fundamental. The only way that sustainability is to really gain momentum amongst those currently working in the built environment is for it to become a fundamental part of training, from undergraduates level through to post-qualified status via CPD. Some institutions, such as the RICS, are beginning to introduce sustainability modules for graduates studying to become qualified (the APC). This needs to be accelerated across all professions. And perhaps the rare species that are landscape architects should have their names rebadged. Is it just me me or does the title sounds like the bloke or woman who designs your garden – would ecological architect sound sexier?
Related posts:
0 Comments on “Skills – make sustainability part of the basics”
Leave a Comment