Green Skills Symposium: Building capacity for sustainable growth

Speaker: Prof. Jason Snape

 

Practical challenges faced:

Organisations are overwhelmed by proliferating climate and nature disclosure requirements. Many leaders struggle to understand which frameworks truly matter, how they overlap, and how to turn sustainability data into business action rather than compliance paperwork. This session unpacks the complexity behind “framework fatigue”, focusing on what truly matters for compliance, credibility and market leadership.

 

Key learning objectives:

• Identify which frameworks are most relevant for your organisation – e.g. Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and ECOVADIS.
• Understand links between climate, nature, and corporate risk.
• Apply Locate, Evaluate, Assess, Prepare (LEAP) methodology to map nature-related risks and opportunities.
• Use evidence-based storytelling to create credible sustainability strategies.
• Evaluate metrics that support disclosure and inform business decisions.

 

Value for you and your organisation:

You will leave knowing what to prioritise in climate and nature disclosures, reducing risk, strengthening compliance credibility, and translating sustainability metrics into strategic decisions that drive market leadership.

Speaker: Dr Felicia Liu

 

Practical challenges faced:

Sustainable finance has become a catch-all buzzword - so broad, jargon-heavy, and increasingly politicised that many entities, especially small and medium-sized enterprises and local governments aren’t sure where they fit in. As a result, they often miss out on emerging financing pathways, partnerships, and policy tools that could accelerate their decarbonisation plans and support wider community transformation. This confusion risks leaving exactly the organisations most crucial to change without the know-how or confidence to benefit from the shift toward a low-carbon economy.

 

This pilot course offers a clear, practical overview of the sustainable finance landscape, framing it not just as a tool for incremental change, but as a catalyst for transformative impact. Leveraging York’s expertise in place-based and inclusive sustainability, the course spotlights local and regional actors - particularly SMEs in the North of England - who are often overlooked in mainstream finance conversations, empowering them to seize opportunities for investment and community-led change.

 

Key learning objectives:

• Understand and navigate the evolving landscape of sustainable finance, including but not exclusive of green bonds and transition finance, unpacking the implications of “ESG” products, divestment and engagement, circular economy finance models, and green fintech tools
• Identify and apply financial tools that can drive transformative decarbonisation and community-focused impact for SMEs and regional actors.
• Leverage financial innovation to support transformative change at the local and regional level.
• Develop strategies to engage effectively with investors, funders, and finance providers, unlocking new opportunities for growth and impact.

 

Value for you and your organisation:

You will understand core concepts of sustainable finance and investment, to identify opportunities to access this field to support ambitious sustainability plans, enabling credible transformation strategies, local regeneration, and future-proof business growth.

Speakers: Dr Stephen Hall, Dr Truzaar Dordi 

 

Practical challenges faced:

Driving change within organisations is never easy. This session offers a practical “survival kit” for professionals leading social, environmental, and policy innovation, navigating between visionary goals and everyday resistance. 

 

Key learning objectives:

• Identify and overcome common barriers to change through behavioural tools.
• Build alliances and communicate across levels and departments. 
• Sustain leadership resilience under pressure.
• Apply lessons from real-world transformational initiatives.

 

Value for you and your organisation:

You will gain actionable tools to drive change that lasts – reducing initiative failure, increasing engagement, and enabling organisations to embed sustainability effectively and credibly.

Speakers: Dr Marco Sakai, Dr Jacqueline You, Dr Lluis Puig Gonzalez

 

Practical challenges faced:

Organisations are under increasing pressure from regulators and supply-chain partners to disclose environmental impacts. The central difficulty lies in quantifying Scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions across the value chain) which is particularly challenging for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). They often lack access to primary supplier data, struggle to select appropriate emission factors from complex databases, and may be unaware of methodological differences (e.g., spend-based vs activity-based approaches). This course will equip participants with the tools and methods needed to navigate these challenges and produce more transparent, robust Scope 3 estimates.

 

Key learning objectives:

• Understand the legal and reporting frameworks governing carbon disclosure in the UK and internationally.
• Define carbon-accounting boundaries under the GHG Protocol (Scopes 1, 2, and 3) and distinguish these from consumption-based approaches such as Multi-Regional Input-Output analysis.
• Identify and select suitable emission-factor databases (e.g., UK conversion factors, Ecoinvent, Input-Output databases) for different SME contexts.
• Apply practical methodological approaches to address data gaps in Scope 3 estimation, including hybrid techniques that move beyond simple spend-based proxies.

 

Value for you and your organisation: 

You will acquire the technical capability to produce robust, transparent, and auditable carbon inventories. This facilitates compliance with emerging regulations, improving eligibility for green procurement tenders. In addition, organisations can identify opportunities for operational efficiency and cost reduction along the supply chain.

Speakers: Dr Kelly Redeker, Dr Angela Hodge

 

Practical challenges faced:

Agriculture faces a broad range of challenges. Maintaining and growing crop yields while reducing fertilizer use/loss, addressing increasing pest and disease challenges, as well as navigating the challenges associated with improving soil health create a maze in which farmers are increasingly pessimistic about farming, broadly.  Our focus on compounds produced by plants and microbes allows us to address a number of these challenges.  This session will describe the state of knowledge associated with several of these challenges and provide approaches to best manage particular landscapes for optimal outcomes.

 

Key learning objectives:

• Managing “soil health” expectations. What tools are available, which aspects of soil health do they affect, and in which landscapes are they most effective.
• Biopesticides/Biofertilizers- how can these be used effectively. What we know versus what is still highly uncertain.
• Land and crop management- what are the options available for maximum positive impact for future yields. Which crops and soils are best suited for these various approaches?

 

Value for you and your organisation:

You will understand the current state of knowledge for a range of technologies that influence agricultural sustainability and crop yield. They will be able to identify which conditions, crops and farms are more suitable for particular methods and approaches.

Speakers: Prof. Giovanna Massei, Dr. Nicola Favretto & Dr. Shashank Balakrishna

 

Practical challenges faced

As human–wildlife conflicts increase, coexistence is recognised as both a necessity and a challenge. Many conflicts stem from wildlife exceeding the social carrying capacity, with some stakeholders demanding population reductions and others opposing traditional lethal methods. As species like beavers, wild boar, badgers, and grey squirrels adapt to human-dominated environments, conflicts inevitably arise. Achieving coexistence depends on adopting evidence-based, effective and publicly supported approaches. Non-lethal methods such as fertility control, habitat modification, and public education are central to humane and sustainable management, aligning conservation goals with ethical considerations and public values. This session offers a taster for organisations seeking to move beyond reactive measures toward proactive, humane, and sustainable strategies for coexistence. By addressing ecological and social dimensions, participants will be positioned as innovators in advancing solutions to a key contemporary challenge: living alongside wildlife in shared landscapes.

 

Key learning objectives

This session will equip participants with both theoretical knowledge and practical tools:

• Understanding ecological roles: explore why some species grow and expand.
• Conflict analysis: learn to identify, categorise, and assess human-wildlife conflicts across rural and urban contexts, using scientific and social data.
• Non-lethal management strategies: gain practical knowledge of fertility control, habitat modification, and community engagement
• Communication skills: develop strategies for effective public outreach, balancing scientific accuracy with accessible messaging to diverse audiences.
• Case studies and best practices: review international examples of successful coexistence initiatives, highlighting transferable lessons and innovative approaches.

 

Value for you and your organisation:

You will leave with practical skills to address human–wildlife conflicts more confidently and proactively, supported by current research and real case studies. The session will help strengthen evidence-based decision-making, improve communication with communities and partners, and introduce humane, sustainable approaches that enhance organisational credibility and effectiveness in managing wildlife issues.