| Abstract | How far can climate literacy be embedded into the construction vocational education and training (VET) systems? This is investigated in North America (US and Canada) and six European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the UK). Climate literacy entails understanding the impact of climate change on society, the sector and its different occupations. Achieving zero carbon building (ZCB) is shown to involve respecting construction workers’ embodied knowledge and experience, and empowering them to make informed decisions regarding their actions through climate-literate VET programmes, thus enhancing labour agency. Drawing on research for Canada’s Building Trade Unions’ programme Building It Green, involving interviews and analysis of case study VET systems in eight countries, this article defines climate literacy and adapts a transparency tool to map and evaluate the range of knowledge, know-how and competences required for climate-literate construction workers. The findings reveal wide variations between case studies in coordinated and liberal market economies in the incorporation of climate literacy and obstructions to this, reflecting conflicts between approaches minimising workers’ discretion and those facilitating building workers acquiring abilities and agency to make informed decisions. Understanding the value of achieving socially beneficial climate outcomes can add meaning and purpose to construction work. |
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