Author: billy.aiken

This Green Careers Week, we’re celebrating how CAT inspires, informs and enables impactful green careers.  

As the climate and biodiversity emergency continues to shape our world, the need for skilled, passionate people in green careers has never been greater. This Green Careers Week, we’re exploring how the CAT helps people find their path into meaningful work that supports a sustainable future. 

From sparking inspiration in young minds to equipping professionals with innovative skills, CAT’s work is rooted in a powerful mission to inspire, inform and enable humanity to respond to the climate crisis. For more than five decades, CAT has been a place where people come to explore bold ideas, launch meaningful careers, and connect with others working toward a more sustainable future 

Inspire: Planting Seeds and New Ideas 

Inspiration is often the first step toward a green career. At CAT, it begins the moment someone steps onto the site. Nestled in the UNESCO Dyfi Biosphere Reserve in the hills of Mid Wales, CAT’s immersive natural setting is a living example of sustainable living in action set in a stunning wooded valley. 

Visitors frequently describe the experience as transformative. Teacher John Ridler from Queen Mary’s Grammar School in Walsall explains that while many students arrive with ambitions to pursue medicine, visits to CAT often broaden their horizons. 

“A lot of our pupils come in thinking medicine is their likely path. But experiences like this inspire them to consider engineering – something they might never have thought was for them.” 

John Ridler, teacher at Queen Mary’s Grammar School

Queen Mary’s now sees 15–20 students a year inspired to go on to study engineering at university. 

Dr Dai Morgan, longstanding lecturer at the University of Cambridge, brings his group to CAT every year. Dai believes that the experience at CAT is a poignant moment of inspiration for his students.  

“CAT offers something unique. It’s immersive and integrative-a real example of sustainability being worked out in real time. Being in that environment, around people who are doing things differently and showing what’s possible, creates space to reflect and reconnect with what really matters.” 

Dr Dai Morgan, Lecture at the University of Cambridge

This sense of connection to nature, to community, and to purpose, is echoed in feedback from many young people’s visits. They describe the feeling of being “part of nature” during their time at CAT. That feeling makes them want to protect it.  

CAT is more than a learning centre – it’s a community hub, a hive of action where people from all walks of life come together to imagine and create a sustainable future. Whether it’s a school group exploring renewable energy, a youth panel shaping climate action, or a volunteer discovering their passion, CAT helps people see themselves as part of the solution. 

Inform: Developing Skills for a Sustainable Future 

Inspiration is powerful, but it’s only the beginning. To turn passion into impact, people need knowledge, skills and confidence. That’s where CAT’s educational programmes come in. 

CAT’s Graduate School of the Environment offers postgraduate degrees that blend academia with practical learning. Studying on one of seven postgraduate degrees helps students gain knowledge and networks to make a real difference in their chosen specialisms as they go on to have long and impactful green careers.   

To date, over 2500 people have completed postgraduate awards at CAT. Students have gone on to make a real difference through a wide variety of careers and opportunities, from architecture and energy management to environmental policy and land management. 

Graduates have gone on to launch innovative companies, lead sustainability initiatives, and shape policy across the UK and beyond. Their success stories are a testament to the power of education rooted in real-world application. 

Clara Humphries came to CAT to study how she could integrate green building principles into real-world projects and now works as a Retrofit Project Manager at Retrofit West, where she applies the knowledge she learned studying at CAT daily.

“CAT gave me the hope and motivation to tackle complex climate challenges“

Clara Humphries, Graduate of our MSc in Green Building and Retrofit Project Manager

CAT also supports volunteers, many of whom describe their time at CAT as life-changing. CAT’s cohorts of 6-month residential volunteers not only work in practical roles managing CAT’s gardens and woodlands, they also undertake various training courses to equip them with essential skills for careers in land management. Through the training, mentorship and valuable experience gained during their time living and working with the CAT community, volunteers gain the confidence and skills to enter green careers, often discovering new passions along the way. 

Ella Catherall, who recently finished 6 months of volunteering in CAT’s garden team, has been able to take the next steps in her Green Career thanks to the skills she learned at CAT. She is now embarking on a placement with the Adam Greathead Trust, where she will spend a year training in two renowned UK gardens.

People in careers that aren’t traditionally seen as ‘green’ can become climate leaders too! One of CAT’s most impactful offerings is Carbon Literacy Training, which equips individuals with the tools to become climate leaders in their workplaces and communities. Whether you’re a teacher, builder, policymaker or student, CAT helps you understand the science, communicate the urgency, and take meaningful action.  

Engagement with young people remains central to CAT’s mission. The organisation provides curriculum-linked workshops, day and residential visits, and practical sustainability sessions for schools, colleges and youth groups. Within a new funded project at CAT called “Next Generation Earth”, a new Youth Panel is being developed to ensure young voices are embedded in CAT’s work and in community-based climate action. 

Enable: Supporting further action across the network 

Once people are inspired and informed, the next step is enabling them to make a difference, whether that’s embarking on a new green career or embedding sustainability into their existing career. CAT’s work doesn’t stop at education, it extends into innovation, collaboration and strategic leadership. 

The Zero Carbon Britain Innovation Lab is a prime example. It delivers facilitated innovation processes that help organisations, councils and sectors address the climate and ecological emergencies. Drawing on systems thinking and futures design, the Lab enables collaboration across boundaries and translates sustainability ambitions into practical action. 

To date, over 70 organisations and nearly 200 councils have benefited from CAT’s innovation support. Recent projects include: 

• Growing into the Future: Supporting the growth of a resilient and economically sustainable horticulture sector in Wales through the LPIP project 

• Dyfed Powys Food Resilience Scenarios Lab: Co-developing local responses to food system challenges across the region. 

CAT’s membership network is another powerful enabler. It includes people at every stage of their green careers – from those just starting out to seasoned professionals and retirees. The annual Members’ Conference is a space for sharing experiences, learning from each other, and building collective momentum. 

As a strategic leader in sustainability education, CAT plays a key role in shaping regional green skills development, working closely with the Regional Learning and Skills Partnership and other stakeholders to ensure Mid Wales is at the forefront of the green transition.

A Place Where Green Careers Begin 

This Green Careers Week, we’re celebrating the many people who’ve found their way into green careers through CAT – students, volunteers, professionals, and changemakers. Their stories show that green careers aren’t just about jobs, they’re about making a difference, finding purpose, and helping shape a better future. 

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to take the next step, CAT is here to support you. From hands-on learning to strategic innovation, we’re proud to be part of the journey.

Want to learn more about CAT?

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