Scotland’s colleges have crucial role in preparing workforce for net-zero goals
still need to know how to fix, install and assess older models of “legacy technology”even as green versions replace them.
He added: “Everyone assumes that air-source heat pumps are the green solution, and that may very well be if you’re in a detached house. For flats, for example, maybe not so much but there are other alternatives electrically.
“Long story short, we see all of these technologies coming in and so we must take apprentices and be teaching them the new technologies.
“But we must also make sure they’re trained in the legacy because they’ve still got to feed their families.”
Roughly 30% of instruction takes place on future technologies, and the rest on legacy. But that ratio shifts as students progress in their apprenticeships and Mr Smeall expects it will continue to shift significantly overall as industries adapt.
In the meantime, Kelvin has established its own Green Academy, which is the product of millions of pounds of investment, particularly in the Springburn campus.
Included in these upgrades are the introduction of cutting-edge heat technologies, including air-source heat pumps.
Students are taught installation and maintenance, with the idea that they can not only enter the workforce equipped with modern skills, but also be the ones to teach and support existing workers.
Mr Smeall and other advocates of apprenticeship programmes have long recognised that giving new workers this sense of capability and responsibility – a role in their workplace as an important contributor with something to teach the veterans – will make job sites healthier and more productive.
But just because the Green Academy is designated by a few hallway markers at the Springburn campus doesn’t mean Kelvin’s environmental contributions end there.
He added: “As far as the green agenda and moving forward to net zero, colleges have both a social element of it and a specific job to do in creating the new modern workforce.
“So far as we’re concerned, our Green Academy has two strands. We take our social responsibility, so all students, no matter what subject it is, we are progressing our curriculum to raise their awareness and understanding of the circular economy.”
Fashion, for example, has moved quickly in sustainable design, manufacturing and commercialisation, and Kelvin’s students have won awards for their contributions.
But Glasgow Kelvin Green Academy’s heart is within the training and apprenticeship programmes.
Curriculum director Peter Brown said colleges are uniquely situated to take on the challenge and the cost of training the new generation of workers because of the trust built up over decades of working with industry partners.
In addition, college curriculums offer the right flexibility to meet market demands and provide the most relevant benefits and training to employers, especially small, local employers.
“We really work with the transition to renewables, and we make sure that the curriculum is fit for purpose so that adapting to new technology and methods is embedded in the curriculum.”