Green Advantage - Skills Bootcamp in Sustainability

Green Advantage is a short course designed for business leaders, managers and professionals who want to consider the implications of climate and environmental challenges for their business or workplace alongside maintaining business performance and profitability.  

Sustainability is an important but sometimes confusing area, and business leaders can feel they are expected to play a major role without having the tools to help them.

This course will give you the information and skillset to understand environmental sustainability in your business context, and the strategies and actions (if any) that you need to be taking to meet changing customer and staff preferences, regulatory, procurement or supply chain requirements, or investor expectations.  

Whether you are seeking immediate practical actions to lower emissions and save energy, or an overhaul of your entire business model and value proposition, this course will help you develop an informed approach. 

What are the benefits of the Course?

Supported by interactive workshops, like-minded peers and a one-to-one business coach you will:

• Learn about environmental sustainability from leading Aston academics and industry experts
   
• Hear examples of sustainability strategies being used by businesses today
   
• Build a bespoke Sustainability Road Map for your business or career

During the course, you will also be informed of opportunities provided by the West Midlands Combined Authority and Sustainability West Midlands to showcase your net zero activities, share best practice and promote your commitment to accountability around Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) agendas.

Who can take part in the Course?

To participate in Green Advantage, you must be:

• A British national OR a resident of the UK for the past 3 years
• Aged 19+ and living and/or working in one of the 3 LEP areas of The Black Country, Greater Birmingham and Solihull, or Coventry, which is the catchment area of the West Midlands Combined Authority
• NOT enrolled to other Government funded programme at the time of delivery; and
• A decision-maker from any business sectors who has some responsibilities linked to the sustainability agenda.
   

What is the cost of the Course?

Green Advantage is funded by the Government Department for Education via the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) as part of the Government's Skills Bootcamps. As per the requirements of our funders, there must be a contribution to the cost of the course from small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and large organisations. The amount of contribution is determined by the size of your business.

Small to medium sized enterprises (SME)
This course is 90% funded by the Government for SMEs. These businesses pay £385.00 per learner to participate. (An SME is defined as having 249 employees or less)

Large organisations
This course is 70% funded by the Government for large organisations, these businesses pay £1,155.00 per learner to participate. (Large organisations are categorised as any business that has 250 employees or more)

Self employed
This course is fully funded by the Government for the self-employed and therefore provided free of charge to these learners. (Self-employed refers to a person who runs their business for themselves, takes responsibility for its success or failure, are not paid through PAYE and does not have the rights and responsibilities of an employee).

Email the Centre for Growth for further information.

Hear from our latest cohort!

To view all case studies, visit our YouTube channel.

Meet the Team 

Delivery Team

Image

Paula Whitehouse

Deputy Dean for Enterprise and Director

Centre for Growth

Image

Mark Hart

Deputy Director, Enterprise Research Centre and Associate Director 

Centre for Growth

Image

Kate Angel

Head of Business Support Operations

Centre for Growth

Image

Christian Byron

Programme Manager

Centre for Growth

Image

Dixon Wong

Business Engagement Manager

Centre for Growth 

Faye Oliver

Programme Coordinator

Centre for Growth 

Image

Anna Bright

Programme Facilitator

Sustainability West Midlands

Image

Emily Whitehead

Programme Facilitator

Simply Great Britain

Image

Nathalie Ormrod

Senior Lecturer

Marketing & Strategy

Image

Ahmad Beltagui

Associate Professor (Reader) 

Operations & Information Management

Image

Breno Nunes

Reader

Sustainable Operations Management

Kinana Aliko

Sustainability Consultant