Spreading sustainability and skills at the University of Bolton
News
- Employment and Skills,
- Sustainability
29 May 2024
Recently, we were delighted to engage with the community at the University of Bolton Business School to address a leading issue, sustainability. From building maintenance to legal compliance, sustainability touches on many aspects of workplace and facilities management (WFM) and is vital for professionals to grasp in a fast, ever-evolving market.
IWFM Rising FMs, North Region and the Sustainability SIG collaborated to arrange the event, which included a panel discussion with IWFM’s Head of Policy & Research Sofie Hooper, IWFM Non-Executive Board Director Andrew Hulbert and others on achieving sustainable organisations, hosted by IWFM Chair Mark Whittaker. Additional activities included networking, a CV writing workshop and career advice. Our Rising FMs Network set out to support our Career of Choice programme with an evening networking event.
Rising FMs Network chair Elliot Valentine said, “Sustainability is vital for a healthy environment and WFM is at the forefront of beneficial change. The event at University of Bolton enabled attendees to network, devise new solutions and prepare the sector for tomorrow’s conditions. I’d like to express my gratitude to everyone who took part and worked to make the event a success; we’re looking forward to more opportunities to engage with our community and newcomers alike.”
We encourage the community to engage with our resources, around energy management, our net zero toolkit, our Sustainability Survey 2023 and our sustainability courses. Additionally, we’re soon to launch our 2024 Skills Survey, which intends to discover the competencies and behaviours that WFM professionals need to succeed at every career level. Designed to be completed in less than 20 minutes while gathering the most salient insights, IWFM encourages the community to complete and share the survey far and wide.
IWFM Senior Research Manager Stuart Rutherford said, “The 2024 Skills Survey will be an indispensable tool to determine today’s competencies, including in fast-moving areas like sustainability and technology, and enhance IWFM’s work going forward. I encourage all professionals from across the sector to take part - it’s your input that will form the heart of this research and you will directly benefit from the output. Ultimately, the research will help professionals, organisations and the sector to ensure they are ready for the future.”