In this post Tristram Hooley shares slides from a recent presentation that he gave to the Career Development Association of Australia looking at the issue of green guidance.

Environmental change is a critical issue for social justice. However, so far we have given this too little attention as part of the wider movement for social justice in career guidance. The green guidance concept originated by Peter Plant has been highly influential in providing us with a way forward. We have began to build up a set of articles and resources on this site focusing on green guidance. But, there is much more to do.

In a recent presentation to the CDAA I tried to set out what green guidance is and show how it links to the concepts of career guidance and social justice that are the focus of this site.

I argue that climate change and wider environmental issues are becoming increasingly important for our careers. Because of this it is not meaningful to talk to people about their careers without recognising the changing context of environmental change. 

I go on to argue that a critical approach, linked to wider consideration of social justice, provides us with the best framework for considering these issue as part of career management. And that while this is something that we can (and should) address in career counselling, it is career education that provides us with the most powerful opportunity to get individuals thinking about environmental issues.

Feel free to use the slides is you find them useful.