Most Wanted: Skills needs in the Environment sector

Published by The Environment Research Funders' Forum (now part of the Living with Environmental Change partnership)
October 2010

The report summarises work led by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), to examine skills that post-graduates and professionals need to equip them for work in the environment sector.

The “Most Wanted” Report identifies 15 critical skills in short supply, including hard-edged skills such as numeracy, computer modelling and conducting field research, and softer skills such as translating research into plain language so that it can be understood more easily. It also explains why such skills are so badly needed – for example, to allow the UK to develop and apply new technologies, respond to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather, and enable better knowledge and understanding of environmental issues.

Altogether, the review uncovered 224 skills which are needed by businesses, government and academics working on issues which overlap with the natural environment.  According to a recent CBI report, businesses across the UK are already struggling to recruit staff with the skills needed to meet demands in some of these areas, and the shortage is likely to hamper economic growth.

NERC intends to update the findings regularly and is inviting people to continue contributing to this information resource by emailing skills@nerc.ac.uk

• Download the full report (PDF 3.18MB)