Short course

Skills Bootcamp Net Zero Together

Start date
26 April 2023
Duration
10 weeks
Time commitment
6 hours per week
Mode
Online & in person
Cost
Free
Subject
Green Skills and Sustainability
Level
CPD
Credit
Non-credit

Endorsed by

The UK Government has committed to become net zero by 2050 and businesses will need to make big changes. Skills Bootcamps are part of the government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee to help everyone gain skills for life. 

This fully-funded, 10-week course has been co-designed with industry experts to demystify net zero for employees. It focuses on upskilling, so you become a champion in sustainability and net zero, identifying the levers that your industry or sector has available to support environmental improvements.

You will become a regional champion who will have a tangible impact on reducing carbon emissions within the West Midlands.

The Skills Bootcamp includes live industry projects with theory-style learning and has a clear focus on how this links to the net zero agenda. Content includes:

  • Engagement to raise awareness of the benefits of the environmental opportunities identified.
  • Co-design/creation: Working collaboratively to devise and deliver solutions to support environmental objectives.
  • Training and education: Influencing behaviour to reduce waste and use resources more efficiently in the performance of the contract.
  • Partnering/collaborating in engaging with the community in relation to the performance of the contract, to support environmental objectives.
  • Volunteering opportunities for the contract workforce, e.g. undertaking activities that encourage direct positive impact.
  • Understanding of how to influence staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or other appropriate stakeholders through the delivery of the contract to support environmental protection and improvement.

The skills you’ll gain

By the end of this 10-week Skills Bootcamp, you will be able to;

  • Develop a net zero mindset,
  • Understand sustainability and environmental issues: globally, nationally, regionally, and locally within your organisation,
  • Become the Sustainability/Net Zero Champion for your organisation,
  • Set targets to reduce carbon emissions and increase sustainability,
  • Create a sustainability plan for your organisation,
  • Measure progress against the sustainability targets,
  • Communicate persuasively to key stakeholders the connections between economic and environmental success,
  • Access a Sustainability Champions Network across the WMCA region to collaborate on projects and to learn more about sustainability issues and skills.

To maximise flexibility, you will mostly study online through a combination of real-time seminars and self-paced learning. This will be supplemented with three in-person workshops (week 1: orientation, week 5: case studies, week 10: wrap up and next steps) spread across the 10-week course. This flexible provision will help you balance study with other commitments (e.g., caring, work schedules etc.).

What will you receive

You will receive a Certificate of Completion from University of Birmingham, showcasing your accomplishment to future employers. You will benefit from a wide range of career support services like:

  • CV creation
  • Social media profile support
  • Technical interview preparation
  • Portfolio reviews
  • Soft skills training
  • Coaching from our dedicated career services team to help further your career.

In order to be eligible for the Skills Bootcamp Net Zero Together you will need:

  • A letter of recommendation from your line manager or someone in a similar position.
  • To demonstrate a role in the sustainability agenda in your company or that this course will help you become more involved.
  • To be aged 19 or over.
  • To have the right to work in the UK.
  • To live in the West Midlands.
  • To meet residency requirements.

April 2023 intake: To be eligible for assessment, your application must be complete and submitted before: Monday 3rd April 2023. Before submitting your application, please make sure it is complete. Otherwise, your application will not be reviewed. 

What will you receive

You will receive a Certificate of Completion from University of Birmingham, showcasing your accomplishment to future employers. You will benefit from a wide range of career support services like CV and social media profile support, technical interview preparation, portfolio reviews, soft skills training and coaching from our dedicated career services team to help further your career.

The skills you will gain

Develop a net zero mindset,

Understand sustainability and environmental issues: globally, nationally, regionally, and locally within your organisation,

Become the Sustainability/Net Zero Champion for your organisation,

Set targets to reduce carbon emissions and increase sustainability,

Create a sustainability plan for your organisation,

Measure progress against the sustainability targets,

Communicate persuasively to key stakeholders the connections between economic and environmental success,

Access a Sustainability Champions Network across the WMCA region to collaborate on projects and to learn more about sustainability issues and skills.

Meet your instructors

Dr Dexter Hunt

Dr Dexter Hunt, Lecturer Year and Year 4 Director (Department of Civil Engineering)

Dr Hunt obtained both his MEng (Hons) degree and PhD from Birmingham in 2000 and 2005 respectively. His globally cited PhD looked at improving predictive methods for ground movements associated with multiple tunnel construction.

From 2003 to 2012 Dr Hunt worked on a number of multi-million pound Interdisciplinary, Multi-disciplinary and Trans-disciplinary  grants progressing through the ranks of  research associate, research fellow, Senior Research Fellow, Research Investigator, Co-Investigator to Principal Investigator. In 2011 he secured a Marie Curie scholarship for visiting scholar Nikolai Bobylev.

In 2012 Dr Hunt was awarded a Birmingham Fellowship (equivalent to a Stewarts’ scholarship) allowing him to continue his research work for a further four years progressing to full-time Lecturer in 2016. He currently specialises in the areas of Underground and Sustainable Construction.

Dr Hunt has been active in the field of “Sustainability” and Underground’ (in their broadest sense) since 2003, having undertaken research within and published on a range of relevant themes including but not limited to: Energy, Water, Materials, Transportation, Asset Management, Utility Infrastructure, Sustainability Assessment, Tunnel Construction, Urban (and aspirational) Futures, Urban metabolism and Waste.

Dr Hunt has authored > 120 publications (>50 in refereed international journals – winning both the Trevithik and Asset Management Awards for best paper in journal), this includes a BRE publication on Designing Resilient Cities and a series of Little Books. His h-index is 23 with i-10 index of 44, with a number of papers amassing >100 citations each. This includes papers in high citation journals (e.g. Global Environmental Change – IF = 10.46) Altogether, he has been cited >1700 times (Google-Scholar) with 70% these occurring in the last five years, this is accompanied by >50,000 views of his research work on Research Gate and 45,000 views on Mendeley.

He is on the Editorial Board of two journals (Sustainability and Civil Engineering), and has organised and presented at national / international conferences and workshops. Additionally he has delivered invited Talks and is a regular referee for 14 international journals including but not limited to:

  • ICE- Water management;
  • ICE- Sustainable Engineering;
  • ICE- Urban Design and Planning;
  • ICE - Asset management;
  • Sustainability;
  • Water;
  • Local Environment;
  • Journal of Environmental Engineering;
  • Global Environmental Change;
  • Environment and Planning B;
  • Journal of Mountain science;
  • Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology (TUST);
  • Canadian Geotechnical journal;
  • Geotechnique.

Dr Hunt was awarded ‘Outstanding Reviewer’ Status for TUST (top 10th percentile in terms of the number of reviews completed two years running) in 2015. Dexter is an excellent communicator having honed these skills over many years rearing his children, tutoring, teaching and from research interaction with and between many students, academics and stakeholder audiences from multiple disciplinary backgrounds. Dexter regularly presents and leads panels at national / international conferences and workshops.

Dr Hunt has a total of 18 (mostly externally funded) doctoral students (10 having completed) and has examined 20 higher degrees (2 as external at UK institutions and 18 as Internal). In addition he has five years of experience leading both BEng and MEng Final Year Research Modules.

Dr Hunt teaches on and has been module lead for a number of courses at UoB this includes: Underground Construction, Sustainable Construction, Geotechnics, Geotechnical Asset Management and Materials 1 and 2. 

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