Greening Higher Education for Green Skills Building Thailand

The world is transitioning to a greener and more circular economy in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This transition will not only impact existing jobs, but it will also create new ones. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), it is predicted that 100 million new jobs will be created by 2030 by ensuring a green transition.

In the face of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, the demand for green jobs and green skills has grown, although this presents an issue of its own: demand outweighs supply. LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report 2022 results show an increase in 22.4% of job postings requiring green skills, while only 12.3% of talent possesses those skills.

This is similar in the case of Thailand. According to ‘Green Jobs Policy Readiness Assessment in Thailand’, it is suggested that higher education and vocational education are needed to equip the Thai workforce with the skills required by industry and by the emerging needs of the service economy. UNESCO and UNICEF analyses reveal a significant knowledge gap stemming from limited opportunities to acquire information on sustainability and green economy issues. Survey findings underscore that Thai youth possess a limited understanding of green jobs, and education institutions will play a pivotal role in ensuring that the future workforce is informed about the opportunities in the green sector.

It is therefore paramount for learners to develop the green skills needed to thrive in this changing economy, and this represents another challenge for higher education. Universities must promptly respond to these changes, as how well-prepared new graduates will be to face the green economy relies on universities’ approaches to transforming their curriculum and the degrees they offer.

Asia and the Pacific is home to more than 750 million youth, accounting for more than 60 percent of the global youth population. In Thailand, nearly two million students were enrolled in public and private universities and colleges in 2021. Thailand’s rate of tertiary education enrollment in all eligible populations stands at nearly 44 percent, making universities essential players in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to the 2023 Times Higher Education

Impact Rankings: four Thai universities ranked in the top 100 and 20 in the top 600 globally for contributing to the SDGs. Such indicators offer valuable insights for students to explore and assess the sustainability commitment and impact made by universities. Thus, by transforming the university curriculum and degrees, Thailand may not only provide the workforce and entrepreneurs to cater to the national demand but also to the regional demand in ASEAN. This would also help Thailand to raise their share of the GDP from the knowledge economy (education and training) and the knowledge-based economy (digital technologies, shared economy platforms, high-tech manufacturing, and so on).

Against this backdrop, the UN has put forward several initiatives to support youth to build green skills and access green jobs to ensure a just and inclusive transition to a circular economy. In 2022, at COP27, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), ILO and UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched ‘Green Jobs for Youth Pact’ to support a just transition and boost decent jobs for youth in a sustainable economy. It aims to develop 1 million new green jobs, transform 1 million existing jobs, and help 10.000 young green entrepreneurs start their businesses by 2030. Under the Pact, agencies are also working together to establish a ‘Global Green Skills Observatory’ to convene, support, and accelerate action on green skills for youth within the higher and further education sector (HE and FE - including universities and TVETs) by voicing youth needs.

To build green skills for the youth, universities can take whole-of-campus and inter-disciplinary approaches, including developing new curriculum, redesigning existing core courses, developing talent strategies, offering trainings, supporting green entrepreneurship, connecting students with industry leaders, and much more. By convening this one-day workshop of relevant stakeholders, including policymakers, private sector representatives, youth, and the higher and further education sector in Thailand, the UN in Thailand aims to:

• Support universities in greening their curricula;
• Identify the existing green skills gaps in Thailand;
• Raise awareness of universities and TVETs role in bridging the green skills gaps;
• Discuss different approaches to building green skills, their opportunities and challenges.
• Share best practices for inspiration, replication and collaboration.
• Discuss action points to green higher education and close the green skills gap in Thailand.