Green Skills Are Not Enough: Three Levels of Competences from an Applied Perspective

Abstract

The world of work is increasingly recognizing sustainability needs and issues, which require skills and competences. Accordingly, concepts like green skills and sustainability competences have been discussed in the literature. However, it remains unclear what green skills are and what differentiates them from other concepts such as sustainability competences. The aim of this paper is to address the question of what green skills are in order to facilitate the application of them by bringing the concept closer to practice. A qualitative approach was employed, utilizing semi-structured interviews with experts engaged in sustainability matters across various sectors. In line with previous research, the term green skills is seen as a complex and ambiguous one. Based on the findings of the present study, we propose to differentiate three levels of skills and competences, delineated by their specificity: general sustainability competences, intermediate cross-sectional competences, and specific green skills. Additionally, experts underscored the pivotal role of personal values and interests.