New FE support package to help colleges fulfil sustainability potential #LoveOurColleges

Recognising the challenges that Further Education (FE) has faced for some time, EAUC has launched a new FE support package to foster knowledge exchange and provide additional support.

We support the #LoveOurColleges campaign, and want to see the Government prioritising investment in FE to ensure it can make its invaluable contribution to our economy and community. To play our part, we have further developed a range of tools, including:

• A new FE-only knowledge-exchange network to ensure colleges can gain insight and share best practice with others in a similar position to them.
• A dedicated FE newsletter to celebrate FE sustainability updates and highlight useful opportunities.
• A new FE Special Advisor post to ensure we have the right expertise guiding us. We are pleased to have Gil Snook, former Head of Estates at City College Plymouth leading on this.

We are in dialogue with FE members to establish what other support we can provide, and will be creating resources to supplement this package.

Iain Patton, CEO at EAUC, said:

 “Wider contextual understanding of sustainable development is key to future-proofing vocational learning and apprenticeships. Sustainability has relevance to every single course our institutions have to offer. In addition, FE students want this skills and knowledge – in research last year, NUS found that 80% of FE respondents believed their college should actively promote and incorporate sustainable development into its courses and practices.

 “However, we know from our membership that the FE sector is disproportionately limited in its resource capacity and funding. Our support package is designed to ease some of these issues. But ultimately, the sector needs better public recognition, employer support and more Government funding to ensure it can play its role successfully as educators, trainers and influencers of the next generation – generation equipped to deal with even greater employment volatility, uncertainty and change.”