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A survey of requirements and
needs in the field of
environmental technology,
with special emphasis on
environmental employment, in
Sweden
Environmental
technology
369
Walter Leal Filho, Katarina Larsen and Folke Snickars
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Division of Regional Planning,
Stockholm, Sweden
Keywords Environmental systems, Environment, Sweden, Germany
Abstract This paper presents the main results of a research project looking at trends on
environmental technology and environmental employment in Sweden. Entitled ``FEESE''
(Fostering Employment in the Environment Sector in Europe), the project analysed provisions
and needs in respect of environmental training among a sample of Swedish companies, which are
outlined in this paper. Some recommendations which may be useful to Sweden, but which are also
applicable to other industrialised countries, are also presented.
Introduction
The study ``Fostering Employment in the Environment Sector in Europe'' or
FEESE, initiated in late 1998, is an international study involving Finland,
Germany and Sweden, aimed at analysing the current state of affairs in relation
to the environmental sector in Europe, paying special attention to
environmental technology, with an emphasis on the matters of direct concern to
and of direct impact on employment in the sampled countries. The project was
set in motion following the ``Seminar on Perspectives and Employment in
Environmental Engineering in Europe'' held in Hamburg, Germany in
September 1998 (Leal Filho, 1998).
The study, being of an international nature, was meant not only to
investigate trends and analyse provisions in a sample of European countries,
but also to identify other European and country-specific needs. Finally, as a
contribution towards addressing the problems seen in this important sector, a
set of recommendations are made, which may be of help in taking full
advantage of the employment benefits the environmental technology sector is
likely to provide to Europe's economies as a whole and to these three countries
in particular. Due attention was also paid to labour trends and statistics (e.g.
The authors are grateful to NUTEK (The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical
Development), the Swedish EU Programme Office, the Swedish Environmental Protection
Agency and the Swedish Council for Work Life Research (RALF) for their support to this
research project.
Environmental Management and
Health, Vol. 11 No. 4, 2000,
pp. 369-381. # MCB University
Press, 0956-6163
EMH
11,4
370
EUROSTAT/Statistics Sweden, 1998; OECD, 1999) and in relation to
environmental employment as a whole (IVA, 1996; RALF, 1997; Swedish,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1997; Leal Filho, 1999).
One additional driver of employment in the environment sector is, in
addition to eco-efficiency, the state of environmental technology per se (Leal
Filho and Larsen, 2000). Simply speaking, a sound technological basis may,
combined with eco-efficiency and other elements, influence a country's
capability to develop its environment sector and, at the same time, address its
employment needs.
In this context, the project FEESE tried both to analyse the current state of
affairs in relation to the environmental sector in Europe and also to pay
special attention to environmental technology, with an emphasis on the
matters of direct concern to and of direct impact on employment in the
sampled countries. The results of the study, in Germany, are available
both in print (Leal Filho, 2000) and via the project's Web site (http://
www.projekte.org/feese).
In Sweden, the country of concern in this paper, FEESE was supported by
NUTEK ± Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development,
The Swedish EU Programme Office and the Environmental Protection Agency
with subsequent assistance from RALF ± The Swedish Council for Work Life
Research.
As to the purposes of the project, the interpretation of the environment
technology sector entailed technical areas such as cleaning, remediation,
decontamination and other mitigating measures, also incorporating
environmental management, but excluding environmental politics. This is in
line with what OECD has defined as the environment sector and, despite the
usual difficulties seen with definition of what the environment sector is or is not
(OECD, 1996, OECD, 1997), it constituted an operational basis for the project.
This is also in line with the recent work performed by Statistics Sweden by
assignment of the European Commission (DGXI) and based on the following
general definition given by OECD/Eurostat (SCB, 2000):
The environmental goods and services industry consists of activities to measure, prevent,
limit, minimise or correct environmental damage to water, air, and soil as well as
problems related to waste, noise and ecosystems. This includes cleaner technologies,
products and services which reduce environmental risk and minimise pollution and
resource use.
The objectives of the Swedish component of the FEESE project, the subject of
this paper, were:
.
to provide an up-to-date account of the current status of employment in
the environmental technology sector in Sweden.
.
to identify and analyse trends, strategies and initiatives aimed at
catalysing, improving and/or facilitating the employment prospects of
environmental graduates from Swedish universities;
.
to document information of broader interest.
Finally, it was envisaged that a wide dissemination of the results, especially
among providers of training such as higher education institutions, could lead to
some tangible improvements in respect of the deficiencies identified as part of
the project.
Methodology
The FEESE project focused on the environmental technology component ± as
opposed to the broader environment sector as a whole. In this context, it took
into account nine sub-sectors, including the seven topics officially part of the
EC environmental research agenda and going over and above that with two
extra themes, thus moving towards the ``sustainable environmental
technologies'' goal as laid down in the EC 5th Environment Action Plan.
As to the purposes of the FEESE project, the following nine areas
(subsectors) were included in the study:
(1) a ± remediation of sites.
(2) b ± pollution control measurements.
(3) c ± environmental impact assessment.
(4) d ± clean technologies.
(5) e ± environmental management (including eco-auditing and ecobalance).
(6) f ± sustainable production and design.
(7) g ± waste management (solid/liquid), monitoring, treatment of
hazardous wastes.
(8) h ± recycling technologies.
(9) i ± environmental communication, education and training.
These areas and other elements considered in the project are outlined in Figure
1. Some of the key questions asked in the study were:
.
.
.
.
.
What is the real contribution of the environment technology sector and
the above listed sub-sector as sources of employment in Sweden and in
other countries taking part in the study?
How many people are employed and in which areas?
Which problems prevent employment prospects in the environment
sector?
Which areas are stable, saturated and open for growth?
How can employment in the environment technology sector be sustained
in the long term? Which approaches, legislation and training provisions
are needed?
Environmental
technology
371
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Figure 1.
Themes and dimensions
dealt with in FEESE
Moreover, since moves towards the establishment of environmentally-oriented
programmes, courses and projects are now conspicuous across Europe, the
project tried to identify items such as:
.
what types of skills the market wants
.
what skills the market is able to accept
.
which specific skills are in demand.
The Swedish component of the project was performed over a period of 12
months, starting in June 1999 and the data collection instruments included:
.
a review of the available literature and official documents,
.
telephone interviews, and
.
a postal and Web-based questionnaire survey.
A total sample of 190 companies, nationally distributed, was investigated. The
main sources for the selection of companies were registers provided by the
national authorities themselves or publications produced in co-operation with
national environmental authorities (e.g. Swedish Environmental Protection
Agency, 1998 and 1999, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Swedish
Environmental Protection Agency, 1999; Envirotec, 1998). In order to further
gather information and experiences from organisations, authorities and other
relevant agencies for the environmental industry in Sweden, a conference was
arranged in Stockholm in December 1999. The meeting was organised in cooperation with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and gathered
together 80 persons representing environmental agencies, institutes,
consultants, organisations and universities. The delegates giving presentations
were representing the following organisations:
.
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
.
Statistics Sweden ± SCB
.
Environmental
technology
Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development ±
NUTEK
.
Federation of Swedish Industries
.
Ministry of Environment
.
Swedish Environmental Research Institute ± IVL
.
Ragnar Sellbergs Foundation
.
Swedish Council for Work Life Research ± RALF
.
Swedish Centre for Ecological Sustainability ± SWECOL
.
Kjessler & MannerstraÊle ± KM
.
Swedish Environmental Management Council
In the panel discussion closing the conference, the following organisations were
represented: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Association of
Swedish Chemical Industries, The Swedish Delegation for Sustainable
Technology and The Royal Institute of Technology. For more information from
the workshop see http://www.projekte.org/feese
Embedded into the methodology chosen for the FEESE project was the need
to strengthen the European dimension of the employment perspectives of the
environment market in Sweden and elsewhere. The methodology tried and
used in this project may therefore enable it to be used to the benefit of
investigations in other countries not included in this study.
Results and discussion
The amount of data gathered during the study was substantial and their
presentation in full would probably go well beyond the scope of a paper. In
addition, some of the results have also been presented elsewhere (e.g. Leal Filho
and Larsen, 2000), so that the emphasis here will be on the key findings which
are also of broader interest. In order to systematise the presentation of the main
results, they will be grouped into three categories:
(1) the significance of the sector and knowledge by employees,
(2) the type of training/knowledge employers require/wish from employees,
and
(3) the information and training needs from the surveyed companies.
1. The significance of the sector and knowledge of employees
According to the Swedish Central Office of Statistics (SCB), the Swedish
environmental industry is responsible for around 95,000 jobs. It has a turnover
373
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of around SEK 163 billion (1998), roughly equivalent to US$20 billion. Around
6,727 enterprises have been identified as working in this sector (SCB, 1999,
SCB, 2000).
The number of employees working in companies in each sector is
summarised in Table I. It can be seen that small to medium enterprises, with 50
employees or fewer, make up the majority of the sample.
As far as the level of education of the employees in the surveyed companies
is concerned, the multiple choice questions show that people working in the
environmental sector hold different levels of education, but a large proportion
possess a university education (see Table II).
This finding shows that there is a great deal of flexibility in the admission
requirements of environmental companies and that the sector also provides
work for people with more basic levels of education.
In order to gather some impressions on the environmental knowledge
current and future employees should ideally have, companies were asked to list
the skills they favour in a multiple choice question. The responses given, as
seen in Table III, indicate that technical knowledge and knowledge on
Up to 10 11-25
Table I.
Number of employees
in different types of
companies in the
sample
Env. management
Env. technology
Waste and recycling
Clean technology
Sust. product and design
50
25
11
0
6
Level of education
Table II.
Educational
qualifications of
employees
51-100
101-500
4
9
7
4
0
2
5
6
1
0
5
3
7
3
0
Environmental law
Technical environmental issues
Environmental management
Environmental ethics
Environmental policies
Environmental education/communication
No
> 500 response
1
3
2
4
0
1
1
1
±
±
Percentage of respondents
Basic education (gymnasium)
Middle education (yrkesskola)
Higher education (universitet/hoÈgskola)
Knowledge and skills
Table III.
Environmental
knowledge current and
future employees
should have
5
14
10
0
0
26-50
42
48
75
Number of replies
Present
Future employees
77
98
67
52
67
74
75
100
74
59
66
80
environmental legislation, together with skills related to environmental
education/communication, are the most favoured in the sample for both present
and future employees.
It is seen that, in addition to technical environmental issues (first place), the
two areas where knowledge is most favoured are environmental education and
communication, followed by environmental law and environmental
management.
Environmental
technology
375
2. The type of training employers require/wish from employees
As important as the needs from employers is the ability from the side of
training providers to meet them. In this context, the sampled companies were
asked to refer to the extent to which training providers are taking into account
the knowledge they are looking at. The results, as seen in Table IV, are mixed,
although companies are predominantly of the opinion that their needs are being
fully or at least partly addressed.
The sampled companies were also asked if they were satisfied with the
quality of the new graduates entering them, as far as environmental skills are
concerned. Under half of the companies responding to the question have stated
that they are fully happy (39). The most frequent answer was that they are
partly satisfied (81) and ten have stated that they are not happy with the
quality of new graduates at all. The response ratio for this question was, in the
context of the sample, seen to be low (68 per cent) and a frequent comment from
companies not responding was that they had not employed any newly
graduated person recently and therefore were unable to express an opinion.
When asked to list which skills are missing (multiple choices possible), the
sampled companies have indicated that a wide range of skills are needed
(Table V).
There seems to be a preference for more practical knowledge in the sample.
In addition, skills related to human relations are emphasised more than both
Qualitative judgement
Training needs are being fully met
Training needs are being partly met
Very little emphasis on what is needed
No emphasis on what companies need
Skills needed
More
More
More
More
More
practical knowledge
theoretical knowledge
language skills
computing skills
skills related to human relations
Replies (companies)
23
101
28
6
Table IV.
Whether training
providers are meeting
the needs of companies
Replies (companies)
65
29
10
2
18
Table V.
Skills needed by
companies
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computing and language skills. This is not necessarily to be interpreted as that
computing and language skills are considered unimportant: it could be that
these requirements are well met at present and are therefore not emphasised to
the same extent.
3. The information and training needs from the surveyed companies
The surveyed companies were also asked whether information on the latest
environmental technologies, including information materials, are reaching
them. Impressions were mixed and were ranked as shown in Table VI.
Those who were getting limited or no information were asked to state the
possible reasons for this. Some of the respondents that did not think that
information on new technologies was reaching them gave the explanation that
they were not searching for it at the moment. In addition, some said that an
active search was needed ± for which they had no time or did not know where
to look. These answers could be seen as an indicator that many companies that
are not reached by information on new technologies in their field of work would
be interested in getting it. The limiting factor is that the gathering of this type
of information requires an investment in effort and time.
In relation to provision of specific information on an important aspect of a
company's operations, namely environmental legislation, the sampled
companies were asked to give their opinion as to whether enough information
is reaching them. The results gathered are shown in Table VII.
Furthermore, companies were asked to judge the impact of new
environmental legislation (new or within the past three years) in their company.
Replies given are shown in Table VIII.
Respondents were also asked to rate their level of information on
environmental legislation. Replies are shown in Table IX.
In relation to their requirements, companies were asked whether there is a
need to review/redesign the curricula of training providers (e.g. universities,
Replies
Table VI.
Amount of information
on latest environmental
technologies reaching
companies
Table VII.
Amount of information
on environment
legislation reaching
companies
Yes, a great deal
Yes, to some extent
Very little
Not at all
Replies
Yes, a great deal
Yes, to some extent
Not at all
No. of companies
54
82
30
9
No. of companies
104
64
19
colleges, training centres) to allow more provision for environmental issues.
From 190 companies, 112 (59 per cent) replied positively and 27 said there was
no such need.
With regard to the themes that priority should be given to which ± the
following distribution was obtained from companies (themes with ten or more
replies):
.
Environmental legislation and the Environmental Code.
.
Environmental economy and accounting.
.
Recycling.
.
General or basic environmental knowledge/ecology.
Environmental
technology
377
As could be expected, some other themes were mentioned more frequently
than others. Among the least frequently mentioned ones are: renewable energy
and energy consumption; Life Cycle Analysis and product development/
design.
Another question posed was whether the sampled companies have an
internal training programme on the environment. Nearly 60 per cent replied
negatively, although, especially in small companies, continuing provisions for
training are of great relevance both for competition purposes and from an
education perspective.
Issues included in the education programmes present at the companies were:
basic environmental education, EMS, ISO 14001, LCA, environmental
procurement, environmental legislation, environmental impacts (by a company
and its products), IT, national and local environmental objectives and also
security and risk assessment. Specific issues mentioned were, among others,
environmental impacts from chemicals and the transport and emission of VOC
(Volatile Organic Compounds).
Still related to training, companies were asked to state whether they would
require some further training for their staff on environmental matters. Replies
are shown in Table X.
Replies
They have led to an increase in their level of activity
They have led to a decrease in their level of activity
There has been little or no change at all
Replies
I think I am sufficiently informed
I could be better informed
I am not well informed
No. of companies
103
2
79
No. of companies
65
112
13
Table VIII.
Impact of new
environmental
legislation in
companies
Table IX.
Level of information on
environmental
legislation in
companies
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As to the themes/topics for training, the following topics were emphasised:
.
EMS ± Environmental Management Systems and environmental
management.
.
LCA ± Life Cycle Assessment.
.
EPD ± Environmental Product declaration.
.
Legislation/Environmental Code.
.
Material and products environmental impact.
.
General updates.
Beside these issues, other themes such as project management and market
analyses were referred to. The ways via which training should be delivered is
also an important piece of information. In this context, companies have stated
their preferences as seen in Table XI, indicating that they are fairly relaxed as
far as the venue is concerned, albeit a preference to training within their own
premises was recorded.
In relation to how long should such training ideally last, answers were
mixed and are shown in Table XII.
Information provisions are also seen as important to a company's
competitiveness and in this connection companies were asked to indicate
whether they see the current provision of information materials dealing with
environmental issues as sufficient. From the 190 sampled companies, 126 said
yes and 55 replied negatively, which shows that for some companies provision
of such information is not enough.
Table X.
Whether companies
require further training
for staff on
environmental matters
Replies
Yes
Maybe
Not really
Replies
At the company
Outside the company
Table XI.
Company preference on Via distance education
It does not matter where
place for training
Replies
Table XII.
Suggested length of
training
A compact one-day session
A two-day session
Be spread over a period of time
No. of companies
98
62
27
No. of companies
68
54
13
52
No. of companies
47
23
84
The sample was also asked to indicate how they would rate their access to
reference materials. Results are shown in Table XIII.
Respondents were also asked to rate their own need for training in this
respect. Replies are shown in Table XIV.
Following a question asking if there was an interest in undergoing training
towards a more interdisciplinary-oriented environmental conservation, 107
said ``yes'' and 45 said ``no''.
The companies were given an opportunity to explain why they were not
interested in doing so. The answers related to the fact that they did not identify
a need for such education in their business and/or had other priorities. Other
explanations presented were the lack of time required for such an education;
the small size of the company or the age of the owner himself/herself.
Environmental
technology
379
Conclusions and recommendations
There is a wide range of conclusions that can be taken from the FEESE study,
but the main ones are as follows:
.
The environmental technology field is an area sensitive to changes in
market demands in terms of provision of goods and services but also
regarding competence and skills. Sweden has a strong environment
sector, with a diversified basis in both technical services and skills. The
contribution of the Swedish environmental technology sector to the
country's economy is significant and ± proportionally ± even higher
than that seen in Germany or in the USA.
.
The prospects of employment of individuals with environmental
qualifications in the sample of companies are to be considered moderate,
since more than half of the companies in the sample stated that they will
employ between one and five persons within the following 12 months.
This in practice means that, despite its relevance, the levels of
employment in the environment sector are likely to grow slowly, being
influenced by the national and international context.
Replies
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Poor
Very poor
Replies
Very high
High
Low
No training needed
No. of companies
32
93
42
7
Table XIII.
Companies' access to
reference materials
No. of companies
8
65
54
38
Table XIV.
Respondents' need for
training
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.
.
.
.
.
.
There is a perceived need to provide companies with more information
on environmental issues. This is particularly so in respect of
environmental legislation, since poorly informed companies pose a risk
to themselves and a threat to others. A mechanism should be put in
place to address this problem.
A number of companies think their training requirements are not being
fully met, which shows the need for some sort of reaction from those
providing training. Here one can see a clear ``wake up call'' for
universities and colleges in Sweden, which should review their training
provisions and delivery means, so as to meet the needs of industry in a
more meaningful way.
The practical skills of students need to be enhanced and, once again, the
institutions providing training should strive to achieve that. The means
to do this may include, for example, more placements as part of degree
programmes.
It is a clear conclusion from the study that present and future employees
should develop skills in the fields of environmental law, in respect of
technical environmental issues, in relation to environmental
management, environmental ethics, environmental policies and
environmental education and communication. This should be made
clear to training providers.
The surveyed companies have shown a strong interest in information
and the development of technologies in fields such as LCA, GIS, EIA and
environmental economics. Moreover, as far as education is concerned,
most companies were in general open to the opportunity to take part in
further education and many stated that they would require some further
training for their staff on environmental matters.
Around three out of four companies in the survey think that emphasis
on environmental issues in their company will increase in the future; two
out of five think that the emphasis will remain the same in the future and
only three companies replied that the emphasis will decrease. This can
be seen as an indicator that the companies have confidence in the future
prospects of their business activities.
There is little doubt that the development of the environmental technology
sector in Sweden will depend on the ability of training providers to address the
needs listed here, with which companies will be in a better position to compete
both nationally and internationally. In addition, companies should be
encouraged to meet their own information needs by means of continuing
education programmes, preferably with the active support of training
providers.
Moreover, as stated by Leal Filho and Larsen (2000), providers of training
should try to fine-tune the courses they offer, with what the market needs. By
doing so, it can be ensured that full advantage will be taken of the potential
offered by the Swedish environmental technology sector as a source of
employment and as a tool for economic growth.
References
Envirotec (1998), The Swedish Environmental Technology Review, Envirotec, Stockholm.
EUROSTAT/Statistics Sweden (1998), The Environment Industry in Sweden, Statistics Sweden.
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Filho, W.L. (Ed.) (1998), Proceedings of the ``Seminar on Perspectives and Employment in
Environmental Engineering in Europe'', Technical University Hamburg-Harburg, 19-21
September, Commission of the European Communities, DG XI.
Filho, W.L. (Ed.) (1999), Proceedings of the Workshop on Employment in the Environmental
Sector in Sweden. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 17th December, KTH,
Stockholm (also available at http://www.projekte.org/feese).
Filho, W.L. (2000), ``Environmental education and training in Europe: the FEESE project'',
Proceedings of the ENVIROTEL Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 26 May, Commission of the
European Communities, LEONARDO Programme.
Filho, W.L and Larsen, K. (2000), ``Environmental employment and eco-efficiency'', Proceedings
of the International Conference on Eco-Efficiency, MalmoÈ, Sweden, 19-21 June.
IVA (1996), MiljoÈdriven teknikutveckling, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences,
Stockholm.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (1999), Waste
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RALF (1997), ``Arbetets framtid ± framtidens arbete'', Rapport fraÊn en nordisk forskningskonferens,
GoÈteborg, 6-7 November.
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jobb'', Delegationen foÈr ekologisk omstaÈllning, NaturvaÊrdsverket, Rapport 4744. SEPA,
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Environmental
technology
381
http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers/emh.asp
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emerald-library.com
A survey of requirements and
needs in the field of
environmental technology,
with special emphasis on
environmental employment, in
Sweden
Environmental
technology
369
Walter Leal Filho, Katarina Larsen and Folke Snickars
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Division of Regional Planning,
Stockholm, Sweden
Keywords Environmental systems, Environment, Sweden, Germany
Abstract This paper presents the main results of a research project looking at trends on
environmental technology and environmental employment in Sweden. Entitled ``FEESE''
(Fostering Employment in the Environment Sector in Europe), the project analysed provisions
and needs in respect of environmental training among a sample of Swedish companies, which are
outlined in this paper. Some recommendations which may be useful to Sweden, but which are also
applicable to other industrialised countries, are also presented.
Introduction
The study ``Fostering Employment in the Environment Sector in Europe'' or
FEESE, initiated in late 1998, is an international study involving Finland,
Germany and Sweden, aimed at analysing the current state of affairs in relation
to the environmental sector in Europe, paying special attention to
environmental technology, with an emphasis on the matters of direct concern to
and of direct impact on employment in the sampled countries. The project was
set in motion following the ``Seminar on Perspectives and Employment in
Environmental Engineering in Europe'' held in Hamburg, Germany in
September 1998 (Leal Filho, 1998).
The study, being of an international nature, was meant not only to
investigate trends and analyse provisions in a sample of European countries,
but also to identify other European and country-specific needs. Finally, as a
contribution towards addressing the problems seen in this important sector, a
set of recommendations are made, which may be of help in taking full
advantage of the employment benefits the environmental technology sector is
likely to provide to Europe's economies as a whole and to these three countries
in particular. Due attention was also paid to labour trends and statistics (e.g.
The authors are grateful to NUTEK (The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical
Development), the Swedish EU Programme Office, the Swedish Environmental Protection
Agency and the Swedish Council for Work Life Research (RALF) for their support to this
research project.
Environmental Management and
Health, Vol. 11 No. 4, 2000,
pp. 369-381. # MCB University
Press, 0956-6163
EMH
11,4
370
EUROSTAT/Statistics Sweden, 1998; OECD, 1999) and in relation to
environmental employment as a whole (IVA, 1996; RALF, 1997; Swedish,
Environmental Protection Agency, 1997; Leal Filho, 1999).
One additional driver of employment in the environment sector is, in
addition to eco-efficiency, the state of environmental technology per se (Leal
Filho and Larsen, 2000). Simply speaking, a sound technological basis may,
combined with eco-efficiency and other elements, influence a country's
capability to develop its environment sector and, at the same time, address its
employment needs.
In this context, the project FEESE tried both to analyse the current state of
affairs in relation to the environmental sector in Europe and also to pay
special attention to environmental technology, with an emphasis on the
matters of direct concern to and of direct impact on employment in the
sampled countries. The results of the study, in Germany, are available
both in print (Leal Filho, 2000) and via the project's Web site (http://
www.projekte.org/feese).
In Sweden, the country of concern in this paper, FEESE was supported by
NUTEK ± Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development,
The Swedish EU Programme Office and the Environmental Protection Agency
with subsequent assistance from RALF ± The Swedish Council for Work Life
Research.
As to the purposes of the project, the interpretation of the environment
technology sector entailed technical areas such as cleaning, remediation,
decontamination and other mitigating measures, also incorporating
environmental management, but excluding environmental politics. This is in
line with what OECD has defined as the environment sector and, despite the
usual difficulties seen with definition of what the environment sector is or is not
(OECD, 1996, OECD, 1997), it constituted an operational basis for the project.
This is also in line with the recent work performed by Statistics Sweden by
assignment of the European Commission (DGXI) and based on the following
general definition given by OECD/Eurostat (SCB, 2000):
The environmental goods and services industry consists of activities to measure, prevent,
limit, minimise or correct environmental damage to water, air, and soil as well as
problems related to waste, noise and ecosystems. This includes cleaner technologies,
products and services which reduce environmental risk and minimise pollution and
resource use.
The objectives of the Swedish component of the FEESE project, the subject of
this paper, were:
.
to provide an up-to-date account of the current status of employment in
the environmental technology sector in Sweden.
.
to identify and analyse trends, strategies and initiatives aimed at
catalysing, improving and/or facilitating the employment prospects of
environmental graduates from Swedish universities;
.
to document information of broader interest.
Finally, it was envisaged that a wide dissemination of the results, especially
among providers of training such as higher education institutions, could lead to
some tangible improvements in respect of the deficiencies identified as part of
the project.
Methodology
The FEESE project focused on the environmental technology component ± as
opposed to the broader environment sector as a whole. In this context, it took
into account nine sub-sectors, including the seven topics officially part of the
EC environmental research agenda and going over and above that with two
extra themes, thus moving towards the ``sustainable environmental
technologies'' goal as laid down in the EC 5th Environment Action Plan.
As to the purposes of the FEESE project, the following nine areas
(subsectors) were included in the study:
(1) a ± remediation of sites.
(2) b ± pollution control measurements.
(3) c ± environmental impact assessment.
(4) d ± clean technologies.
(5) e ± environmental management (including eco-auditing and ecobalance).
(6) f ± sustainable production and design.
(7) g ± waste management (solid/liquid), monitoring, treatment of
hazardous wastes.
(8) h ± recycling technologies.
(9) i ± environmental communication, education and training.
These areas and other elements considered in the project are outlined in Figure
1. Some of the key questions asked in the study were:
.
.
.
.
.
What is the real contribution of the environment technology sector and
the above listed sub-sector as sources of employment in Sweden and in
other countries taking part in the study?
How many people are employed and in which areas?
Which problems prevent employment prospects in the environment
sector?
Which areas are stable, saturated and open for growth?
How can employment in the environment technology sector be sustained
in the long term? Which approaches, legislation and training provisions
are needed?
Environmental
technology
371
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Figure 1.
Themes and dimensions
dealt with in FEESE
Moreover, since moves towards the establishment of environmentally-oriented
programmes, courses and projects are now conspicuous across Europe, the
project tried to identify items such as:
.
what types of skills the market wants
.
what skills the market is able to accept
.
which specific skills are in demand.
The Swedish component of the project was performed over a period of 12
months, starting in June 1999 and the data collection instruments included:
.
a review of the available literature and official documents,
.
telephone interviews, and
.
a postal and Web-based questionnaire survey.
A total sample of 190 companies, nationally distributed, was investigated. The
main sources for the selection of companies were registers provided by the
national authorities themselves or publications produced in co-operation with
national environmental authorities (e.g. Swedish Environmental Protection
Agency, 1998 and 1999, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Swedish
Environmental Protection Agency, 1999; Envirotec, 1998). In order to further
gather information and experiences from organisations, authorities and other
relevant agencies for the environmental industry in Sweden, a conference was
arranged in Stockholm in December 1999. The meeting was organised in cooperation with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and gathered
together 80 persons representing environmental agencies, institutes,
consultants, organisations and universities. The delegates giving presentations
were representing the following organisations:
.
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
.
Statistics Sweden ± SCB
.
Environmental
technology
Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development ±
NUTEK
.
Federation of Swedish Industries
.
Ministry of Environment
.
Swedish Environmental Research Institute ± IVL
.
Ragnar Sellbergs Foundation
.
Swedish Council for Work Life Research ± RALF
.
Swedish Centre for Ecological Sustainability ± SWECOL
.
Kjessler & MannerstraÊle ± KM
.
Swedish Environmental Management Council
In the panel discussion closing the conference, the following organisations were
represented: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Association of
Swedish Chemical Industries, The Swedish Delegation for Sustainable
Technology and The Royal Institute of Technology. For more information from
the workshop see http://www.projekte.org/feese
Embedded into the methodology chosen for the FEESE project was the need
to strengthen the European dimension of the employment perspectives of the
environment market in Sweden and elsewhere. The methodology tried and
used in this project may therefore enable it to be used to the benefit of
investigations in other countries not included in this study.
Results and discussion
The amount of data gathered during the study was substantial and their
presentation in full would probably go well beyond the scope of a paper. In
addition, some of the results have also been presented elsewhere (e.g. Leal Filho
and Larsen, 2000), so that the emphasis here will be on the key findings which
are also of broader interest. In order to systematise the presentation of the main
results, they will be grouped into three categories:
(1) the significance of the sector and knowledge by employees,
(2) the type of training/knowledge employers require/wish from employees,
and
(3) the information and training needs from the surveyed companies.
1. The significance of the sector and knowledge of employees
According to the Swedish Central Office of Statistics (SCB), the Swedish
environmental industry is responsible for around 95,000 jobs. It has a turnover
373
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of around SEK 163 billion (1998), roughly equivalent to US$20 billion. Around
6,727 enterprises have been identified as working in this sector (SCB, 1999,
SCB, 2000).
The number of employees working in companies in each sector is
summarised in Table I. It can be seen that small to medium enterprises, with 50
employees or fewer, make up the majority of the sample.
As far as the level of education of the employees in the surveyed companies
is concerned, the multiple choice questions show that people working in the
environmental sector hold different levels of education, but a large proportion
possess a university education (see Table II).
This finding shows that there is a great deal of flexibility in the admission
requirements of environmental companies and that the sector also provides
work for people with more basic levels of education.
In order to gather some impressions on the environmental knowledge
current and future employees should ideally have, companies were asked to list
the skills they favour in a multiple choice question. The responses given, as
seen in Table III, indicate that technical knowledge and knowledge on
Up to 10 11-25
Table I.
Number of employees
in different types of
companies in the
sample
Env. management
Env. technology
Waste and recycling
Clean technology
Sust. product and design
50
25
11
0
6
Level of education
Table II.
Educational
qualifications of
employees
51-100
101-500
4
9
7
4
0
2
5
6
1
0
5
3
7
3
0
Environmental law
Technical environmental issues
Environmental management
Environmental ethics
Environmental policies
Environmental education/communication
No
> 500 response
1
3
2
4
0
1
1
1
±
±
Percentage of respondents
Basic education (gymnasium)
Middle education (yrkesskola)
Higher education (universitet/hoÈgskola)
Knowledge and skills
Table III.
Environmental
knowledge current and
future employees
should have
5
14
10
0
0
26-50
42
48
75
Number of replies
Present
Future employees
77
98
67
52
67
74
75
100
74
59
66
80
environmental legislation, together with skills related to environmental
education/communication, are the most favoured in the sample for both present
and future employees.
It is seen that, in addition to technical environmental issues (first place), the
two areas where knowledge is most favoured are environmental education and
communication, followed by environmental law and environmental
management.
Environmental
technology
375
2. The type of training employers require/wish from employees
As important as the needs from employers is the ability from the side of
training providers to meet them. In this context, the sampled companies were
asked to refer to the extent to which training providers are taking into account
the knowledge they are looking at. The results, as seen in Table IV, are mixed,
although companies are predominantly of the opinion that their needs are being
fully or at least partly addressed.
The sampled companies were also asked if they were satisfied with the
quality of the new graduates entering them, as far as environmental skills are
concerned. Under half of the companies responding to the question have stated
that they are fully happy (39). The most frequent answer was that they are
partly satisfied (81) and ten have stated that they are not happy with the
quality of new graduates at all. The response ratio for this question was, in the
context of the sample, seen to be low (68 per cent) and a frequent comment from
companies not responding was that they had not employed any newly
graduated person recently and therefore were unable to express an opinion.
When asked to list which skills are missing (multiple choices possible), the
sampled companies have indicated that a wide range of skills are needed
(Table V).
There seems to be a preference for more practical knowledge in the sample.
In addition, skills related to human relations are emphasised more than both
Qualitative judgement
Training needs are being fully met
Training needs are being partly met
Very little emphasis on what is needed
No emphasis on what companies need
Skills needed
More
More
More
More
More
practical knowledge
theoretical knowledge
language skills
computing skills
skills related to human relations
Replies (companies)
23
101
28
6
Table IV.
Whether training
providers are meeting
the needs of companies
Replies (companies)
65
29
10
2
18
Table V.
Skills needed by
companies
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computing and language skills. This is not necessarily to be interpreted as that
computing and language skills are considered unimportant: it could be that
these requirements are well met at present and are therefore not emphasised to
the same extent.
3. The information and training needs from the surveyed companies
The surveyed companies were also asked whether information on the latest
environmental technologies, including information materials, are reaching
them. Impressions were mixed and were ranked as shown in Table VI.
Those who were getting limited or no information were asked to state the
possible reasons for this. Some of the respondents that did not think that
information on new technologies was reaching them gave the explanation that
they were not searching for it at the moment. In addition, some said that an
active search was needed ± for which they had no time or did not know where
to look. These answers could be seen as an indicator that many companies that
are not reached by information on new technologies in their field of work would
be interested in getting it. The limiting factor is that the gathering of this type
of information requires an investment in effort and time.
In relation to provision of specific information on an important aspect of a
company's operations, namely environmental legislation, the sampled
companies were asked to give their opinion as to whether enough information
is reaching them. The results gathered are shown in Table VII.
Furthermore, companies were asked to judge the impact of new
environmental legislation (new or within the past three years) in their company.
Replies given are shown in Table VIII.
Respondents were also asked to rate their level of information on
environmental legislation. Replies are shown in Table IX.
In relation to their requirements, companies were asked whether there is a
need to review/redesign the curricula of training providers (e.g. universities,
Replies
Table VI.
Amount of information
on latest environmental
technologies reaching
companies
Table VII.
Amount of information
on environment
legislation reaching
companies
Yes, a great deal
Yes, to some extent
Very little
Not at all
Replies
Yes, a great deal
Yes, to some extent
Not at all
No. of companies
54
82
30
9
No. of companies
104
64
19
colleges, training centres) to allow more provision for environmental issues.
From 190 companies, 112 (59 per cent) replied positively and 27 said there was
no such need.
With regard to the themes that priority should be given to which ± the
following distribution was obtained from companies (themes with ten or more
replies):
.
Environmental legislation and the Environmental Code.
.
Environmental economy and accounting.
.
Recycling.
.
General or basic environmental knowledge/ecology.
Environmental
technology
377
As could be expected, some other themes were mentioned more frequently
than others. Among the least frequently mentioned ones are: renewable energy
and energy consumption; Life Cycle Analysis and product development/
design.
Another question posed was whether the sampled companies have an
internal training programme on the environment. Nearly 60 per cent replied
negatively, although, especially in small companies, continuing provisions for
training are of great relevance both for competition purposes and from an
education perspective.
Issues included in the education programmes present at the companies were:
basic environmental education, EMS, ISO 14001, LCA, environmental
procurement, environmental legislation, environmental impacts (by a company
and its products), IT, national and local environmental objectives and also
security and risk assessment. Specific issues mentioned were, among others,
environmental impacts from chemicals and the transport and emission of VOC
(Volatile Organic Compounds).
Still related to training, companies were asked to state whether they would
require some further training for their staff on environmental matters. Replies
are shown in Table X.
Replies
They have led to an increase in their level of activity
They have led to a decrease in their level of activity
There has been little or no change at all
Replies
I think I am sufficiently informed
I could be better informed
I am not well informed
No. of companies
103
2
79
No. of companies
65
112
13
Table VIII.
Impact of new
environmental
legislation in
companies
Table IX.
Level of information on
environmental
legislation in
companies
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378
As to the themes/topics for training, the following topics were emphasised:
.
EMS ± Environmental Management Systems and environmental
management.
.
LCA ± Life Cycle Assessment.
.
EPD ± Environmental Product declaration.
.
Legislation/Environmental Code.
.
Material and products environmental impact.
.
General updates.
Beside these issues, other themes such as project management and market
analyses were referred to. The ways via which training should be delivered is
also an important piece of information. In this context, companies have stated
their preferences as seen in Table XI, indicating that they are fairly relaxed as
far as the venue is concerned, albeit a preference to training within their own
premises was recorded.
In relation to how long should such training ideally last, answers were
mixed and are shown in Table XII.
Information provisions are also seen as important to a company's
competitiveness and in this connection companies were asked to indicate
whether they see the current provision of information materials dealing with
environmental issues as sufficient. From the 190 sampled companies, 126 said
yes and 55 replied negatively, which shows that for some companies provision
of such information is not enough.
Table X.
Whether companies
require further training
for staff on
environmental matters
Replies
Yes
Maybe
Not really
Replies
At the company
Outside the company
Table XI.
Company preference on Via distance education
It does not matter where
place for training
Replies
Table XII.
Suggested length of
training
A compact one-day session
A two-day session
Be spread over a period of time
No. of companies
98
62
27
No. of companies
68
54
13
52
No. of companies
47
23
84
The sample was also asked to indicate how they would rate their access to
reference materials. Results are shown in Table XIII.
Respondents were also asked to rate their own need for training in this
respect. Replies are shown in Table XIV.
Following a question asking if there was an interest in undergoing training
towards a more interdisciplinary-oriented environmental conservation, 107
said ``yes'' and 45 said ``no''.
The companies were given an opportunity to explain why they were not
interested in doing so. The answers related to the fact that they did not identify
a need for such education in their business and/or had other priorities. Other
explanations presented were the lack of time required for such an education;
the small size of the company or the age of the owner himself/herself.
Environmental
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379
Conclusions and recommendations
There is a wide range of conclusions that can be taken from the FEESE study,
but the main ones are as follows:
.
The environmental technology field is an area sensitive to changes in
market demands in terms of provision of goods and services but also
regarding competence and skills. Sweden has a strong environment
sector, with a diversified basis in both technical services and skills. The
contribution of the Swedish environmental technology sector to the
country's economy is significant and ± proportionally ± even higher
than that seen in Germany or in the USA.
.
The prospects of employment of individuals with environmental
qualifications in the sample of companies are to be considered moderate,
since more than half of the companies in the sample stated that they will
employ between one and five persons within the following 12 months.
This in practice means that, despite its relevance, the levels of
employment in the environment sector are likely to grow slowly, being
influenced by the national and international context.
Replies
Very satisfied
Satisfied
Poor
Very poor
Replies
Very high
High
Low
No training needed
No. of companies
32
93
42
7
Table XIII.
Companies' access to
reference materials
No. of companies
8
65
54
38
Table XIV.
Respondents' need for
training
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.
.
.
.
.
.
There is a perceived need to provide companies with more information
on environmental issues. This is particularly so in respect of
environmental legislation, since poorly informed companies pose a risk
to themselves and a threat to others. A mechanism should be put in
place to address this problem.
A number of companies think their training requirements are not being
fully met, which shows the need for some sort of reaction from those
providing training. Here one can see a clear ``wake up call'' for
universities and colleges in Sweden, which should review their training
provisions and delivery means, so as to meet the needs of industry in a
more meaningful way.
The practical skills of students need to be enhanced and, once again, the
institutions providing training should strive to achieve that. The means
to do this may include, for example, more placements as part of degree
programmes.
It is a clear conclusion from the study that present and future employees
should develop skills in the fields of environmental law, in respect of
technical environmental issues, in relation to environmental
management, environmental ethics, environmental policies and
environmental education and communication. This should be made
clear to training providers.
The surveyed companies have shown a strong interest in information
and the development of technologies in fields such as LCA, GIS, EIA and
environmental economics. Moreover, as far as education is concerned,
most companies were in general open to the opportunity to take part in
further education and many stated that they would require some further
training for their staff on environmental matters.
Around three out of four companies in the survey think that emphasis
on environmental issues in their company will increase in the future; two
out of five think that the emphasis will remain the same in the future and
only three companies replied that the emphasis will decrease. This can
be seen as an indicator that the companies have confidence in the future
prospects of their business activities.
There is little doubt that the development of the environmental technology
sector in Sweden will depend on the ability of training providers to address the
needs listed here, with which companies will be in a better position to compete
both nationally and internationally. In addition, companies should be
encouraged to meet their own information needs by means of continuing
education programmes, preferably with the active support of training
providers.
Moreover, as stated by Leal Filho and Larsen (2000), providers of training
should try to fine-tune the courses they offer, with what the market needs. By
doing so, it can be ensured that full advantage will be taken of the potential
offered by the Swedish environmental technology sector as a source of
employment and as a tool for economic growth.
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