Establishing A Timber-Focused Competency Framework To Up- And Re-Skill Built Environment Professionals To Meet Sustainability Goals

Engineers equipped with skills for a sustainable built environment have never been more critical, as government and industry sustainability goals such as the 2050 net zero target have significant implications for the construction sector. Concurrently, the UK’s Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has estimated that over 250,000 new workers will be needed by 2027 to meet demand. Besides this need for green skills, the sector is also looking towards more sustainable building materials, methods, and technologies, such as homegrown biogenic offsite manufactured (bioOSM) timber: an innovative technology requiring additional engineering and manufacturing expertise. To address this critical skills gap, the Timber Technology, Engineering, and Design (TED) Competency Framework was established by a coalition of academic and industry partners. This framework then informed the development of a hybrid training course that can prepare the next generation of timber engineers with the knowledge, transferable skills, and industry experience that can drive change towards sustainability in the built environment and inform a transformational approach in engineering education. This practice paper describes the development of the Timber TED framework and the launch of the corresponding training programme in September 2022. It also reflects on the initial implementation across two cohorts, delivered at the Centre for Advanced Timber Technology at the New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering in Hereford, England, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University and Timber Development UK. This educational initiative showcases an innovative and replicable approach to upskilling and reskilling for green skills in engineering education.