Sustainability managers and chief sustainability officers are the new trending designations in companies. With green jobs increasingly in demand, several skilling missions around them have come up. For instance, The Skill Council for Green Jobs promoted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is training youth in solar power, green businesses, water management, etc. But do students passing out of schools and colleges have the sustainability mindset?

To create that mindset, 1M1B (One Million for One Billion), in partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) has created a Green Jobs and Sustainability Accelerator programme in high schools and colleges which will be launched in the next 10 to 15 days. 1M1B is a UN accredited initiative which has Climate Action Clubs across schools in India.

Skilling the future

“We are all talking about skilling and future jobs. But not sustainability as a mindset,” says Manav Subodh, Founder of 1M1B and Co-Chair of Green Jobs and Sustainability Accelerator. He argues that people still view sustainability as a philanthropy project or CSR programme and not a way of life. The programme is being launched in 25,000 schools and colleges. The idea is to impart sustainability training to over 5,000 students and give them exposure to industry projects.  The top 100 students emerging out of the programme will be given five days of workplace experience and internships on sustainability with industry partners. The top 20 students of the programme will get internships at ABFRL.

Says Dr Naresh Tyagi, Chief Sustainability Officer, ABFRL and Co-Chair of the Green Jobs and Sustainability Accelerator,“The programme is based on the 3 pillars of Sustainability—the purpose of large structures and systems, the purpose of individuals and the purpose of future generations. ABFRL is the first industry partner to host the top 20 students for various workplace experiences and internships, creating long-term value for our stakeholders.”

According to Subodh, it is an out of curriculum, out of school/college programme. But since it is a sponsored programme, it is free for students. “We are asking companies working on sustainability initiatives and also talking to those in the fashion space to sponsor it,” says Subodh.

There are 40 hours of programming in the training module. Anybody can enrol. “The selection of top students is through an elimination-based approach. After two classes you are set challenges and selection is based on how you solve these challenges.”

A pilot was done in January in close to 545 schools. “We also worked with 60-75 colleges. Engineering colleges are testing the programme,” says Subodh, who says the programme is massively scalable. But more companies have to come on board for that.