ABSTRACT
A common (green) skills planning objective is to identify the learning needs of workers in particular sectors, programmes or organisations, in order to provide them with appropriate learning opportunities. This chapter describes a design and conceptual framing for learning needs assessments focused on sustainability or green economy policy practitioners. Measures for achieving credible results include design features for building consensus around the findings, but also a sound conceptual framing of learning needs. The chapter provides pointers for working critically with the notion of competencies, exploring both the value and the limitations of the concept, and framing it as relational transformational agency entailing technical, relational and ethical affordances among collectives involved in sustainability policy-practice. The chapter draws on the Green Economy Learning Assessment for South Africa, which explored the learning needs of sustainability practitioners in policy contexts related to sustainable transport, renewable energy procurement and water resource management, among others. The chapter shares examples of competencies identified in these contexts, and concludes with a few curriculum pointers, in anticipation of the next chapter’s focus on the educational provider’s perspective.
