Climate literacy and labour agency in vocational education and training

How far can climate literacy be embedded into the construction vocational education and training (VET) systems? This is investigated in North America (US and Canada) and six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the UK). Climate literacy entails understanding the impact of climate change on society, the sector and its different occupations. Achieving zero carbon building (ZCB) is shown to involve respecting construction workers’ embodied knowledge and experience, and empowering them to make informed decisions regarding their actions through climate-literate VET programmes, thus enhancing labour agency. Drawing on research for Canada’s Building Trade Unions’ programme Building It Green, involving interviews and analysis of case study VET systems in eight countries, this article defines climate literacy and adapts a transparency tool to map and evaluate the range of knowledge, know-how and competences required for climate-literate construction workers. The findings reveal wide variations between case studies in coordinated and liberal market economies in the incorporation of climate literacy and obstructions to this, reflecting conflicts between approaches minimising workers’ discretion and those facilitating building workers acquiring abilities and agency to make informed decisions. Understanding the value of achieving socially beneficial climate outcomes can add meaning and purpose to construction work. POLICY RELEVANCE ZCB requires a climate-literate construction workforce, and a VET system capable of providing the necessary knowledge, skills and competences. Worker agency is important for delivering effective ZCB outcomes. To achieve this, policymakers need a clear definition of a climate-literate construction worker and an understanding of how this applies to construction VET systems. A transparency tool is created that can be used to describe various attributes for inclusion into construction qualifications to achieve climate literacy and identify conditions under which VET programmes can promote this. In assessing the strengths and limitations of VET systems in Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the UK), Canada and the US, policy guidance is provided for governments, unions and employers to achieve a climate-literate workforce.