Publications & Thought Leadership

December 2009

Sustainable Labour Market Research

Posted in Implementation and Integration

This Sustainable Labour Market Research Report summarizes sustainable labour market research conducted for UBC towards their goal of strengthening teaching and learning on sustainability.

It was produced to assist UBC’s Working Group on Academic Programs (WGAP) of the President’s Advisory Council on Sustainability in their efforts to develop an academic sustainability plan and identify potential course and degree options at UBC on sustainability. In collaboration with the Sustainability Office, the WGAP commissioned Coro to conduct a literature review of key trends in the Canadian and international sustainable labour market and employer, industry and thought leader interviews on emergent sustainable labour market trends. UBC undergraduate students were also consulted via an electronic survey to determine their priority sustainability learning interests. Key conclusions from the three research reports are summarized in this Sustainable Labour Market Research report.

The Sustainable Labour Market Research highlights include:

1. Integration of Sustainability into Degrees/Courses

A significant majority of students believe that sustainability should be a component of their degree; with some exceptions, they prefer courses and minors to majors in sustainability. Thought leaders and employers believe that sustainability will be embedded into every discipline in the future.

2. Key Job Trends and Priority Subject Areas

The top overall priority subject areas from the student survey include:

• Clean/Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
• Sustainable Transportation
• Sustainable Community Development
• Water and Air Quality
• Sustainable Infrastructure (water, waste, energy)
• Sustainable Cities
• Climate Change
• Green Building and Design

The most important jobs in transition to a sustainable future, according to employers and thought leaders include:

• Climate change and energy management related jobs
• Community development related jobs

The top sustainability attributes required of incoming employees by thought leaders and employers include:

• Life cycle and systems thinking
• Community-based development knowledge

The literature review revealed these sustainable labour market trends:

• Shift to a low-carbon economy
• Environmental engineering
• Recycling and waste management

Download your copy of Sustainable Labour Market Research (110 kb PDF)
Download your copy of the employer, industry and thought leader study on sustainable labour market trends.
Download your copy of the literature review on sustainable labour market trends.