Learning and skills initiatives

Prospect is running a number of union learning projects to improve and enhance members' skills and career prospects.

In the environmental and land sector we have secured funding from the Union Learning Fund for a two year project to raise awareness of life long learning and skills development opportunities.

We will be working with sector skills council Lantra* to:

• develop a network of Union Learning Reps
• establish learning hubs around the UK, initially in the east, south east and north east regions
• establish learning agreements with employers to deliver the project
• allow staff paid time off to train for their new role and support their colleagues.

The external funding has enabled us to appoint a project development worker and an administrator to take the project forward.

National Trust south east region

Our first initiative is a learning agreement in the south east region of the National Trust. The agreement's aims are to:

• build a partnership between the National Trust south east region and Prospect
• encourage the Trust's regular staff within that region to participate in life long learning
• provide access to life long learning
• support the development of a learning culture within the National Trust, and acadre of NT union learning representatives (ULRs).

This is one of the workstreams integral to the overall project objective which will be launched in November 2007 with roadshows at two National Trust properties in the south east, Scotney Castle and Polesden Lacey. We will be asking staff to complete a questionnaire to establish what sort of learning they are interested in, from information technology to languages, public speaking to numeracy. Our project development worker will follow this up, helping staff to find appropriate learning opportunities until ULRs are recruited.

Other initiatives

The second workstream, to be launched in spring 2008, involves the Institute of Field Archaeologists, English Heritage, the Open University and Lantra. Based in the east of England, it will identify and address the barriers to learning opportunities for workers in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and promote these opportunities.

We are meeting the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) in late November to discuss how we can work together and engage regional employers in the life long learning agenda.

* Lantra is the Sector Skills Council for the environmental and land-based sector, representing 17 industries from agriculture to veterinary nursing.

Downloadable documents