Dusseldorp Skills Forum: Project: The Green Team

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Green Team 2010

A project partnership between Dusseldorp Skills Forum & Worldskills Australia

Building on the success of Green Team 2008 the WorldSkills Australia National Skills competition will again be home to the Green Team! Student volunteers from event management will team up with students from environmental courses to find out how sustainable are the categories at a WorldSkills competition.

Under the guidance of the lead auditor, ARUP, the Green Team will conduct interviews with each of the skill areas and gather data that will become part of the Environmental Audit report and establish benchmarks for improvements.

One of the keys to becoming more sustainable is the dedication and leadership of the project designers and category convenors.

During the competition days the Green Team will be interviewing those categories who have put their hands up to be considered for the award for ‘Outstanding Leadership in Showcasing Skills and Sustainability’.

These awards have been introduced to recognise actions taken by project designers and category convenors on issues such as sustainable practices, efficient use of materials, water and power management, and wastage within the competition.

This award will be presented by ARUP at the Presentation Ceremony; in 2008 Vehicle Painting were the inaugural winners – this year?

Did you know that the WorldSkills International competition held in 2009 in Calgary, Canada introduced the concept of the Green Team? Did you know that the international projects now feature aspects of sustainability within their technical descriptions? And that Beauty Therapy won the first ever Skills for Sustainability award at the international level in WorldSkills?

Here's a quick look at the Team 'On The Floor' at the 2008 competition:

Skills for Sustainability Award

An award for outstanding leadership in showcasing skills for sustainability.

2008 Worldskills Australia National Winner - Vehicle Painting

2009 Worldskills International Winner - Beauty Therapy

Sustainability Place

Last competition Dusseldorp Skills Forum & WorldSkills Australia showcased aspects of an environmentally responsible home by constructing a cutaway of a house into a backyard that incorporated design elements that demonstrated ideas for water and energy efficiency, passive solar house design and the use of sustainable materials.

Past WorldSkills competitors, judges and project managers constructed the cutaway. Skilled young apprentices explained to the public aspects of Sustainability Place and gained course credit at the same time!

In the meantime check out the stories at Trade Secrets, for inspiration & motivation about skills for sustainability within the Building & Construction industry.

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Green Tick

Green Team 2008

For the first time ever...

In an effort to address challenges around environmental skills and sustainability, Dusseldorp Skills Forum and WorldSkills Australia worked together on an innovative project during the 2008 Worldskills Australia National Competition– the Green Team!

The Green Team comprised of young Sydney Institute of TAFE Event Management students and University of NSW Environment students, trained to conduct an Environmental Review. An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) guided the Review, allowing the Green Team’s work to conform to internationally recognised ISO14004 standards.

To hear what inspired Green Team members, check out this short video:

For the first time ever within the Worldskills competition aspects of skills and sustainability were recognised. Another first for WorldSkills Australia, and Worldskills internationally, was the benchmarking of water, waste and energy that took place during Bump In, Competition & Bump Out. The data captured provided WorldSkills Australia with a blueprint for continuous improvement around total event sustainability in future years.

Benchmarking water, waste and energy

The Green Team Girls of 2008 One student said that she volunteered because:

"I am interested in how we can better our environment, and I would love to learn something new."

Thanks to TAFE, student’s efforts were recognised as they gained credit towards the practical side of their coursework.

The Travel & Tourism teacher at Sydney Institute, Kathy Herd, said the project was important for students because:

"We know that clients are really interested in Green events, so it develops opportunities… it will really be a benefit for them in their employability".

At a time when environmental issues are increasingly prominent, this project helped to create genuine long-term results in improving the sustainability of WorldSkills Australia events. It also gives young people the chance to develop an understanding of Green skills and gain experience in the field of event management and its impact on sustainability.

The Green Awards

The Green Award was an inaugural prize given to the project designer and category convener of one outstanding skill area for recognition of leadership in showcasing aspects of skills and sustainability.

John Shiel, technical delegate for WorldSkills, says:

"It's all to do with being responsible for sustainability. As far as WorldSkills goes it’s all of the skills taking responsibility for waste management, materials used, power, water..."

Relevant areas include project design, tools used, material procurement, energy, water and waste management. However, judging criteria also included an X factor.

This award came at a time increasing numbers of employers are interested in employees who can demonstrate skills in the area of environmental sustainability, as well as picking up on long term trade practices in terms of material and waste management.

Cameron Little, a non-voting member of the judging panel and contributor to the judging criteria, said:

"I guess we'll be looking to see levels of outstanding engagement by the category convenors and project designers with the environmental and sustainability objectives of the competition."

"Sometimes it takes a little bit more thought and a bit more effort to pursue these environmental aims. We've been impressed by what we’ve seen so far and we’re very much looking forward to seeing it all played out in the flesh on the day."

"These are Australia’s outstanding young tradespeople and the future leaders in the field and we know that their generation has a strong commitment to the environment but without the help of the project designers, category conveners and all the support staff they will not have a chance to show that they’re conversant with industry best practice".

Download an example of what joinery are doing (PDF, 93 kB).

1 Sustainability Place

DSF, in collaboration with WordSkills Australia and Your Abode, will be showcasing aspects of an environmentally responsible home during the WorldSkills competition in July.

Sustainability Place will consist of a cutaway of a house into a backyard that has been designed by Darryn Parkinson, director of Your Abode.

Darryn says this project is critical because:

"It's important that wholesale change in peoples attitudes surrounding sustainability begins with young people. The drive comes from young people who are questioning older people about best practice… Businesses that aren’t sustainable will fall behind because they wont be able to get people to work for them."

The design will demonstrate ideas for energy and water efficiency, a passive solar house design and the use of sustainable materials.

This will include features such as low water gardens, low energy light fittings, energy efficient windows and glazing systems and the use of insulation.

The materials that have been sourced for the construction of Sustainability Place demonstrate environmental conscientiousness and the ease of building with such materials for the general public.

The cutaway will be constructed by a variety of past WorldSkills competitors, judges and project managers who have generously volunteered their time and efforts.

During the course of the competition young apprentices will be explaining aspects of Sustainability Place to the public. Some of them have undertaken research on environmentally sound practice and will gain course credit for their work as a result.

What is an Environmental Management Plan (EMP)?

An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) maps out the organisation's course of action to reduce environmental impact. An EMP describes how targets will be achieved; the performance measures used to report on progress; identifies staff responsible for achieving these targets; and establishes time frames for achievement. Generally, an EMP lists what is to be done, how it is to be done, who is going to do it and how long it is going to take. At the end of every fiscal year, the EMPs are reported on and updated for the next year.

With thanks to the Global Footprint Network http://www.footprintstandards.org/ for the following two definitions:

Ecological Footprint: A measure of how much biologically productive land and water an individual, population or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates using prevailing technology and resource management practices. The Ecological Footprint is usually measured in global hectares. Because trade is global, an individual or country's Footprint includes land or sea from all over in the world. Ecological Footprint is often referred to in short form as Footprint (not footprint).

life cycle analysis (LCA): A quantitative approach that assess a product's impact on the environment throughout its life. LCA attempts to quantify what comes in and what goes out of a product from “cradle to grave,” including the energy and material associated with materials extraction, product manufacture and assembly, distribution, use and disposal and the environmental emissions that result. LCA applications are governed by the ISO 14040 series of standards (http://www.iso.org).

Tags: Environment, Green Collar, Skills, Students, Sustainability, Vocational Education and Training, Workforce, worldskills, Youth