EUKN - United Kingdom - Mind the Skills Gap: The Skills We Need for Sustainable Communities

Mind the Skills Gap: The Skills We Need for Sustainable Communities

Introduction

This major piece of research was undertaken by Arup on behalf of the Academy for Sustainable Communities (ASC). Building on the work of others the study provides the first cross-sector assessment of supply and demand of skills required to deliver sustainable communities. It provides detailed information on current and forecasted labour shortages and skills gaps, by profession and by region.

Description

Organisations need well-qualified staff with a range of generic skills in order to deliver sustainable communities. This research shows that there are people shortages across the sector, that there are concerns over some technical skills and that generic skills remain important, and lacking, in many areas. Although the sector contains many committed and skilled individuals, these shortages and weaknesses threaten delivery in the short to medium term. However, since the Egan Review, there has been notable progress towards improving generic skills made by the ASC, Regional Centres of Excellence (RCEs) and professional institutions.

Background information

Building sustainable communities depends on the efforts of a wide range of occupations, including architecture, planning, civil engineering, surveying, housing, community development, neighbourhood management, economic development and increasingly environmental management. This study provides the sector with an opportunity to assess what we’re doing to tackle these issues and ensure that we accelerate our programmes to meet market demand.

Methodology

An online survey of 146 organisations involved in the delivery of sustainable communities;
An online survey of 763 individuals;
Case study audits of sustainable community projects and organisations;
A modelling exercise to provide forecasts of the scale of gaps in labour supply - the model used to forecast labour shortages is based on a continuation of current trends and indicates the speed and direction of labour market changes.

Conclusions

The study found:

Significant investment and progress has already been made by organisations in tackling shortages;
Labour shortages and skills gaps are widening;
Multidisciplinary working and generic skills are essential to delivering sustainable communities;

Further research is required.

Contact info

The Academy for Sustainable Communities
Dr Jemma Basham (Research and Best Practice Manager), tel. +44 113 394 4582

Publication date

01/09/2007

Project finished

Researcher

Arup

Links

More information on the Academy for Sustainable Communities Link to full report and background information

Summary report (PDF, 556KB) English

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy

Keywords

Skills & capacity building

Institutional characteristics Academic/Research