On Friday 28 November 2025, the inaugural First Hand Opening Learning Design Day - a day devoted to re-imagining learning as a tool for climate action and sustainable futures - was hosted at 3Space International House in London. Organised by First Hand, the event brought together voices from local government, the third sector, business, community networks and education.
The programmes focuses on place-based, hands-on learning that help organisations and groups build the skills and relationships a sustainable future demands. The food sector is one area where green skills are vital for the future workforce.
Sessions explored existing initiatives across the food system, circular economy, energy transition, and retrofit. Participants heard about projects such as The Felix Project, New Covent Garden Market, and Hackney School of Food, already using surplus-food hubs, urban growing or food education sites for learning, skills development, and community resilience.
Sareta Puri, Diversity Outreach Coordinator at Sustain, spoke about the breadth of careers in the sustainable food sector: food work is not only production - it’s education, community engagement, infrastructure, policy and campaigning. She explored why learning and skills are rarely non-linear in food systems careers and highlighted how our Roots to Work careers resources and workshops support learners and jobseekers on this journey of discovery.
With many career movers and values-led jobseekers looking for roles in non-traditional organisations, there are fewer clear pathways into the sustainable food sector. This is why place-based learning can really open up the green skills agenda within the sustainable food sector. Many roles require practical, place-rooted know how, and there is a need to provide viable career paths beyond extractive, industrialised agriculture. By building resilience into organisational development - and therefore careers within them - communities will develop the skills required to support their local, and subsequently national, food system.
The Design Day was also an opportunity to showcase the work that First Hand has done to outline and share transformative green skills and competencies. Their work to date has been eye-opening for those within place-based and open learning experiences, with people realising that even if their role is indirectly linked to sustainability, we all have a part to play.
To explore careers in the sustainable food sector check out our resources or book in a workshop for learners.
