Find out how to gain the skills and experience you need to tackle the sustainability challenges the world is facing.
Gain in-demand skills
Organisations want the next generation of employees to help them hit their sustainability targets and act more responsibly. This LinkedIn report shows that green skills are in demand. Jobseekers with green skills or a green job title see a 54.6% higher hiring rate than the overall workforce.
What are green skills?
Green skills are the technical skills and knowledge required to tackle the environmental challenges we face. They're also the tools needed to pursue a rewarding career that aligns with your values and makes a difference to society.
How to build your green credentials
Here are just some of the ways you can get involved during your time here:
Did you know our Forest Food Garden modules are designed for undergraduates to learn how to plan, plant and harvest foods in a woodland ecosystem on our beautiful campus? Here are just a few of our green skills-focused modules:
- Sustainability in Engineering module
- Enterprise in the Circular Economy
- The Role of Design in the Circular Economy module
- Exploring a Forest Food Garden
- Creating a Forest Food Garden
- Environmental Management and Sustainable Development.
- Learn more about climate change. If you're a Business School student, join the Climate Fresk workshops. This globally recognised certificate reflects our commitment to a fairer, greener planet, teaching you the science behind climate change and empowering you to take action in just three hours. In October 2024, the Business School hosted the largest number of workshops ever held in a week in the UK.
- Become a Climate Leader Scholar. Every year we award five Climate Leader Scholarships worth £3,000 to new students who have shown outstanding climate leadership in their local communities. Recipients are supported to develop a high-level project plan and provided with mentoring support to deliver student and community engagement around climate change as we progress towards net zero.
- Earn points for activism. The Spirit of Sussex Award celebrates your extra-curricular and voluntary achievements to earn you points towards either a Bronze, Silver or Gold Spirit of Sussex Award. There's a specific category for logging any sustainable or environment-based activities, including clothes swaps, supporting sustainable societies or climate activism.
Engage with the community
- Volunteer at a local charity. Find out how you can boost your job prospects, by giving your time for a good cause.
- Free legal advice. Our Sussex Law Clinics see final year law students collaborate with law academics, solicitors and barristers to offer free legal advice to the public, charities, schools and organisations on issues from migration to housing.
- Create content for local charities. Our media students offer free social media support to local charities, helping to make a difference and improving their CVs.
Gain work experience
- Make local businesses greener. The student consultancy programme has been designed to help you gain work experience by applying knowledge and skills you've acquired on your course to tackle a real-life challenge faced by organisations. Read this blog about one student’s experience, or learn how five Sussex students helped insurance firm Hastings Direct improve its contributions towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
- Immerse yourself in research. The Junior Research Associate scheme is Sussex's pioneering programme to increase research opportunities for undergraduates within the University and maximise the value of undergraduate research, both at Sussex and at a wider national level.
- Become an intern from home. Build your skills and experience working across the globe from the comfort of your own home with the Online Global Summer Internship Programme. Internships range across sectors from green tech and international development to logistics and engineering. Read one student's account of how her confidence grew by putting herself out of her comfort zone and asking for opportunities.