Page 5238 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 18 November 2009
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There is no doubt that the transition to a low emissions and cleaner economy will involve significant change. Career opportunities and growth in some sectors will result from adjustments in the economy to address climate change. The ACT government is facilitating business development and training to ensure opportunities are taken advantage of and to ensure there are sufficient and appropriately skilled workers so that labour shortages do not act as a constraint in meeting the greenhouse gas reduction targets, for there are real opportunities here in sustainable industries to meet the challenge.
The government offers business development support to small and medium business enterprises operating in the territory and will continue to do so as part of the move towards a sustainable economy. As an example, the ACT government’s vocational education provider, the Canberra Institute of Technology, has developed specialist trades courses for energy efficiency, such as a new course for plumbers on installing and maintaining solar hot water systems. In fact, the new horticultural facility at the Bruce campus of CIT is a great example of this government’s commitment to sustainability and skills development for the future. It puts the ACT at the forefront of horticultural skills training. In this new facility, students learn the skills to make this and other cities more sustainable.
As we know, there has been an enormous global shift in environmental attitudes over the past two decades. There is a renewed focus on environmental responsibility and management practices both at home and in the workplace. This shift brings with it a whole array of employment opportunities and educational offerings, including the CIT-developed diploma of ecology and environmental management and the diploma of sustainability.
With the diploma of ecology and environmental management, environmentally motivated people could be pursuing their passion as an environmental technician in a field laboratory, an analyst in a research organisation or an environmental officer in a government department in as little as two years. Students will not only learn in these buildings at CIT but also from these buildings. The lessons of sustainability are built into the very fabric of the CIT facility. It features a 5.2 megalitre dam catching runoff and 30 rain and bore water storage tanks which will not only water this site but that of the CIT’s strategic partner, the Canberra Raiders.
The sustainability lessons learned by students will extend to them using their skills to further improve this facility. Photovoltaic cells will be fitted and managed by students as a training exercise. Students in horticulture, landscaping and turf management will work on projects around the Bruce campus, making it a live environmental training site. This great educational system is one example which we can certainly go to in the way in which this government is working towards a sustainable future.
In addition to programs such as that, we also have the feed-in tariff support which supports clean jobs in the short term, especially for solar panel installers. The government has consistently raised concerns with the commonwealth about the flaws in the current design of the CPRS. It is critical that the contributions of individuals and businesses in reducing emissions are properly accounted for in Australia’s global efforts to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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