UoG researchers support initiative highlighting careers in construction to young people
University of Gloucestershire’s Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) is supporting a collaborative project to provide young people with practical experience of career opportunities within the construction industry.
The Inspire to Build project is an initiative designed to highlight the wide range of opportunities available across the built environment sector in Ceredigion, western Wales, to people aged 16 to 24.
The CCRI – the largest specialist research centre of its kind in the UK – helped to shape the project as a member of the Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership, which funded Inspire to Build.
The Partnership connects academic researchers, public bodies, third and private sector organisations and communities, with the aim of enhancing the use of research and innovation to support effective policy-making, sustainable regional development and the well-being of people.
The CCRI team led an Innovation Lab in which sector stakeholders co-designed solutions to support a regenerative economy, with a focus on the built environment. Throughout the process, participants reflected on the current opportunities and challenges in the sector, envisioned the sector in 2050, and worked together to design solutions that could support progress towards this vision. Inspire to Build was the result of further refinement of these solutions with a steering group of sector experts from across Wales.
Through Inspire to Build, 16 young people who may not previously have considered construction as a career, have accessed placements with local companies. Opportunities include carpentry, bricklaying, electrical work and plastering, alongside architectural technology, construction management, quantity surveying, and digital construction.
The success of Inspire to Build, the delivery of which was led by the University of Wales Trinity St David, was recognised at a celebration event where participants, employers and other stakeholders shared their experiences and perspectives and discussed the skills and opportunities within the sector.
Aimee Morse, a Research Fellow with the CCRI, said: “As a member of the Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership, we were pleased to share our knowledge and experience to support the delivery of Inspire to Build.
“We have a strong and vibrant research relationship with our partners in Wales and long experience providing expertise to policy and decision-makers in Wales.
“As a University, we have a strong focus on enhancing career opportunities for our students and connecting them with employers across our wide range of course programmes. We’re delighted that Inspire to Build is making a positive difference to young people in a similar way within the construction industry.”
Main image: Young people learning new skills as part of the Inspire to Build project supported by the CCRI (credit Andrew Lewis/University of Wales Trinity St David)