A recent workshop on nursery industry career pathways has identified opportunities for industry to address gaps in certified training programs and provide industry with a learning framework that better supports early entrants into the Australian greenlife industry and industry employers.
The workshop which was held on 11 November brought together educators, industry representatives, and production nursery operators facilitating discussion around prototype courses to further enhance professional pathways for the nursery sector.
Hosted by RMCG in partnership with Greenlife Industry Australia under the Hort Innovation funded project ‘Developing Nursery Career Pathways’ (NY17002), the workshop also aimed to provide participants with an overview of the project, insights into the early research on skills gaps, and information on the new Skills Impact training packages.
Identifying an opportunity to develop a learning framework for career candidates in the industry, the project team are now urgently seeking additional feedback on the specific topic areas and subjects which growers and garden retailers find most beneficial for new entrants.
Growers and retailers are asked to respond to a short six question survey to support the continued development of the early entrant development framework. This short survey can be accessed here: https://ngia.wufoo.com/forms/q1x36l7y0h2sryu/.
Other opportunities identified during the workshop include:
- New models of training delivery including blended models of online theory and practical block training.
- Establishment of a centre of excellence.
- Options for flexibility within existing training packages to adapt outputs to address industry needs.
The project is expected to wrap up in June 2021, with key deliverables including the publication of career pathway profiles, a careers guide and the launch for an industry careers hub.
For more information on the project, growers and retailers are encouraged to get in touch with Sonya Gifford at Greenlife Industry Australia via [email protected].
The ‘Developing Nursery Career Pathways’ (NY17002) project has been funded by Hort Innovation using nursery industry levies and funds from the Australian Government.