Dudgeon: Powering Green Skills
Building green skills for Norfolk’s next generation
Norfolk Community Foundation has been working with Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm, operated by Equinor, since 2016 to administer their Community Fund.
The fund was set up to support education initiatives which benefit young people living in the Great Yarmouth, Breckland and North Norfolk districts of Norfolk, with a special focus on STEM activities to inspire the next generation of scientists, innovators and inventors.
The Dudgeon STEM Skills and Employability Fund
Dudgeon launched a pilot programme called the Dudgeon STEM Skills and Employability Fund in 2023, which aimed to support projects for young people aged 16-30 who struggle to access STEM education and training. The fund particularly focused on helping those from underrepresented groups, addressing the critical skills gap in Norfolk.
Industrial farming practices have increasingly come under fire for their impact on the planet. It is vital the next generation are equipped with the STEM skills they need to meet this challenge head-on. The agriculture and food sector employs 7% of the workforce in Norfolk – double the national average. While the proportion of staff in elementary occupations like picking and packing is expected to fall, the proportion of skilled trades in this sector is expected to rise further. The county must begin to boost the take-up of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills to meet this future demand for skilled employees in the agriculture and food sector.
Just outside of Norwich, a disused, weed-ridden space has been transformed into a thriving tree nursery and wildlife meadow at City College Norwich’s Easton College campus thanks to the Dudgeon STEM Skills and Employability Fund for Younger People.
Project Highlights:
In June 2024, Gemma and Megan from the Norfolk Community Foundation programmes team visited the Easton College campus to meet with Karen Dunlop, a lecturer and Tree Warden, who shared her reflections on the impact of the funded project.
Gemma and Megan were delighted to see that the area had been transformed from a disused space filled with weeds and nettles into a vibrant tree nursery with native trees, a wildflower meadow, a shed, raised beds, and a polytunnel. They saw two interns busy making a wooden table, and four students from the Ticket tutor group (students with additional needs) participating in tasks like watering the raised beds. Nationally, fewer than 1 in 5 people with learning disabilities are in employment.
Lecturer Karen expressed her passion for developing green skills and career pathways for students with additional needs:
“One thing that I’m passionate about is green skills and trying to develop career pathways for students with additional needs in the green skills sector. Because it hasn’t really been looked into by the college yet, I’m hoping to try and develop that while I’m here.”
Students were also learning about the science behind green skills, vital for future employment in Norfolk’s skilled agriculture sector. They learned how to propagate plants, harvest seeds, and understand the importance of pollinators and trees.
“The science is really interesting as well, learning how to propagate from another plant, to take a bit off and make it grow,” Karen explained. “When we had all the different groups from Foundation come down, some of the very disabled students really engaged with that sort of level and pace of work. All the tutors fed back that they wanted to come back and do more”.
Looking Ahead
Karen and her student’s enthusiasm for the project was clear to see, and she plans to continue developing the wildflower meadow and harvesting seeds for propagation with her students. She is also looking to involve students in mentoring roles, helping them develop leadership skills as they teach others the processes that they have learned. This initiative has not only provided practical skills and knowledge but has also fostered a sense of community and collaboration.
We are excited to continue supporting projects like this that make a lasting impact on our community and the young people within it. Working with partners such as the Dudgeon Community Fund, we can nurture the skills required to protect the environment and support the future generations who will protect it.
[Published 29.07.24]
