Inspire Green Futures
Welcome all educators to the Inspire Green Futures resources
The hands-on green careers kit uses real-life role models to inspire children into green careers – in a fun to use top-trumps style card deck.
Lesson material exploring the card deck and green careers are all curriculum linked with hands-on activities that enable students to relate required curriculum knowledge to real-world careers.
The workshops address several Gatsby benchmarks and are linked to essential skill development. In addition, the sessions have proven to be a positive way to engage young people with the climate crisis.
You can read more about the workshop in a summary below and decide whether to book a member of the Inspire Sustainability team in to deliver sessions OR whether to deliver yourself.
Who are the resources for?
Schools
The core funding for this project was for KS2 and KS3 pupils in the West of England, but the team is experienced in delivering to all ages and can easily adapt materials.
These materials have also been adapted to deliver to special educational needs groups and those in alternative learning provision.
If you’re interested in using these resources to drop more careers into your lessons – please read more about how we can support with this.
Other educators/community groups
This material (and delivery) can also be used for groups – like Scouts/Guides and other community groups.
If you’re an educator or STEM professional in the South West who wants to speak to young people about green jobs – please get in touch to ask about our Green Job training sessions.
Workshop basics
The core lesson takes 30min – with options of curriculum linked activities to pick & mix for the rest of the session. Please look through the basic description below
Lesson Summary
| Duration | Activity | Purpose/Teaching Objective |
| 20min | Introduction of session and the Inspire Green Futures cards – 48 real local people | Discover the range of green career options and diversity of people in those jobs. Expanding career scope and understanding of different areas of real-life that need to adapt to meet Net Zero. |
| 10min | Video explanation of Green Jobs & Net Zero in the West of England. Includes a variety of culturally relevant examples from around Bristol city centre. Summary slides to cement learning from the video. | Explanation of what green jobs are & how they will address climate change, with local examples. Link learning from Science and Geography. |
| 10min Optional | Meet people in green jobs – optional meet a green ambassador in-person | Encounter with employee – opportunity for questions and discussion around one particular green job and pathways into that career. |
| 10min | Tasks & games to further explore Inspire Green Future cards & related content. | Be inspired – by the diversity of real role models sharing online profiles. Explore career pathways. Have fun and feel positive about the future of the planet – whilst learning more about the variety of green jobs |
| 10-20 min | Skills or curriculum based activity – can be picked from options in full lesson pack | Connect green jobs to curriculum areas of your choice whilst developing your class’s essential skills |
| 2 min | Session close & final discussion | Wrapping up the session with a summary about green jobs to consolidate learning. |
Workshop delivery:
If you’d like to deliver the workshop yourself, please enquire about the appropriate lesson materials below and about potential training options. You’ll also need to buy some of the Inspire Green Future card packs here
OR (if you’re local to Bristol) you can book in the Inspire Sustainability team from UWE Bristol to deliver this workshop for FREE in your school or venue OR at our classroom onsite at UWE – Frenchay campus.
Please contact us to request a member of the team to deliver the session.
Visit from an ambassador: If you book our team in to deliver, we’ll also aim to bring along a real person in a green job to answer your pupils’ questions.
Lesson materials overview
Green jobs explained – video in and around Bristol
KS2 and KS3 Materials
The key stage two and key stage 3 lessons have the same basic structure outlined above – but with extra depth available for older ages and different additional activity options.
Please fill in the contact form above to access the Lesson Plan downloads, or contact us at engineeringourfuture@uwe.ac.uk and find out more about potential training the team at UWE can provide.
KS2 Optional Activities
| Activity | Duration and requirements | Curriculum | Skills developed | Summary |
| Your planet needs you! Students explore their own skills | 15 – 20min (with optional 10min extension) | English Citizenship | Aiming High Staying positive | Brainstorming in small groups – followed by individual writing of mini-CVs. Optional – group – identify classmates for green jobs |
| My Future Green Job Students design a job of the future | 20min | English Art | Problem Solving Creativity Aiming High | Pupils create a job profile/top trumps card for their idea of a future job, by identifying what future challenges there may be. |
| Aiming high for a green school Group work to identify practical solutions | 20 – 30min | English Citizenship Biology | Problem Solving Creativity Leadership Teamwork Speaking Listening | Students identify their school’s environmental shortcomings, brainstorm solutions, share ideas for class discussion, and potentially present key proposals to school leadership to enact meaningful change. |
| Net Zero Defining this key term spoken a lot about in the media | 5min | Science Citizenship Geography | Speaking Listening | Students explore the term “net zero” by sketching their initial interpretations, then discuss its true meaning and how to communicate it effectively. |
| Staying Positive about the climate Using green jobs to look positively to the future | 10min | Citizenship | Staying Positive | Students discuss climate anxiety, reflect on how learning about green jobs influences their outlook, and explore small, actionable steps they can take to contribute positively to environmental challenges. |
| Build an Eco-city Hands-on opportunity to creatively adapt a city | Half a day | Art | Problem Solving Creativity Teamwork | Students reimagine urban spaces for sustainability and social inclusion by redesigning a city play mat with materials like LEGO and cardboard, transforming areas into greener, fairer environments, and presenting their ideas to the class. |
| Eco-fi Bristol in Minecraft Make the changes you’d like to see in your city online | 1.5 hours Need to book in the Inspire Sustainability team to deliver | Computing | Problem Solving Creativity | Students use a Minecraft model of Bristol to design solutions for urban sustainability, addressing issues like housing and green spaces, while learning about green jobs and presenting their ideas for real-world impact. |
KS3 Optional Activities
| Activity | Duration and requirements | Curriculum | Skills developed | Summary |
| Your Planet needs you! Students explore their own skills | 15 – 20 min (with optional 10min extension) | English Citizenship | Aiming High Staying positive | Brainstorming in small groups – followed by individual writing of mini-CVs. Optional – group identify classmates for green jobs |
| Personality quiz Students align their strengths with job profiles | 10min | Citizenship | Aiming High | Take personality quiz My Skills My Life from WISE (downloadable) and compare to their top jobs |
| My Future Green Job Students design a job of the future | 20min | English Art | Problem Solving Creativity Aiming High | Pupils create a job profile/top trumps card for their idea of a future job, by identifying what future challenges there may be. |
| Aiming high for a green school Group work to identify practical solutions | 20 – 30min | English Citizenship Biology | Problem Solving Creativity Leadership Teamwork Speaking Listening | Students identify their school’s environmental shortcomings, brainstorm solutions, share ideas for class discussion, and potentially present key proposals to school leadership to enact meaningful change. |
| Your school’s impact Calculate your school’s carbon footprint | 20 – 30min Online carbon footprint calculators | Maths Citizenship Biology | All 8! | Think practically about sustainability -investigate and estimate various aspects of your school’s daily operations. |
| Career Routes What happens after school? | 10min Optional extension – 15min | Citizenship | Aiming High Staying Positive | Explore four core post-school pathways by highlighting four green job profiles |
| Net Zero Defining this key term spoken a lot about in the media | 5min | Science Citizenship Geography | Speaking Listening | Students explore the term “net zero” by sketching their initial interpretations, then discuss its true meaning and how to communicate it effectively. |
| Staying Positive about the climate Using green jobs to look positively on the future | 10min | Citizenship | Staying Positive | Students discuss climate anxiety, reflect on how learning about green jobs influences their outlook, and explore small, actionable steps they can take to contribute positively to environmental challenges. |
| Build an Eco-city Hands-on opportunity to creatively adapt a city | Half a day | Art | Problem Solving Creativity Teamwork | Students reimagine urban spaces for sustainability and social inclusion by redesigning a city play mat with materials like LEGO and cardboard, transforming areas into greener, fairer environments, and presenting their ideas to the class. |
| Eco-fi Bristol in Minecraft Make the changes you’d like to see in your city online | 1.5 hours Need to book in the Inspire Sustainability team to deliver | Computing | Problem Solving Creativity | Students use a Minecraft model of Bristol to design solutions for urban sustainability, addressing issues like housing and green spaces, while learning about green jobs and presenting their ideas for real-world impact. |
Extra Materials
Links/info to share with parents
Want to tell your classes’ parents about the session they’ve had? Download the shareable infographic or grab the text below to use on a school newsletter or email.
Information for parents
“What’s a green job? Who does them? Could my child do this in the future?
Your child has taken part in the Inspire Green Futures workshop – all about green jobs.
Support your child’s future by discovering more about green jobs yourself. https://curiosityconnections.net/green-futures/”
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