The future of work and its impact on the
environment
Classroom presentation
www.britishcouncil.org/climate-connection
During and after the lesson, learners will be able to
demonstrate they can:
work collaboratively to analyse and discuss the future of work and its environmental impacts by using 21st-century skills
use a selection of modal verbs as required
write a short analytical paragraph on a collaborative basis.
charity
1.
Existing jobs, that will continue into the future with some small changes, such as doctors or teachers.
New jobs that have only recently arrived and that will continue into the future, such as cyber security
2.
3.
Jobs that don’t exist yet, but that you think will appear in the future
charity.
1.
What are some of the environmental impacts of the workplace?
2.
How might jobs in the 21st century be different from ‘older’ jobs?
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
Driving to work adds to global warming.
Heating or cooling in large offices adds to global warming.People might work from home more often.
••
Will working weeks become longer or shorter?
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
. What types of jobs will we have in the rest of the century? Work in your group collaboratively and make a list of at least four 21st-century jobs. Add a few words about what responsibilities the job has and what you think
its environmental impact is, if any. These may be: a) jobs we have now that will
not be replaced by technology; b) new jobs that have just appeared in our societies; c) jobs that don’t exist yet, but that you predict we will need. E.g.:
Job title
Responsibilities
Environmental impact (if any)
Cyber security specialist
Working with organisations to protect their electronic data from hackers and viruses.
Can work from home – less
travel.Use a lot of data – that has an environmental impact
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
2. What will be the structure and characteristics of work in the rest of the century?
Work together with your group to use the table below to describe the nature of 21st-century work, and the benefits (environmental and other) of and challenges to your ideas. You will need to be creative and think critically.
These may be:
a)
issues that already exist in work
b)Structureand characterisitics
ideas that you predict, or hope, will become common. E.g.: Working from home
Benefits and challengesLess travel – environmental benefits.Good connectivity is not universal – some communities
can’t work from home.
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
What types of jobs will we have in the rest of the century?
Let's see
Artificial intelligence (AI) developers
Big data analyst – specialists who look at data from different sources to find trends and patternsCaring and health sector jobs – we have an ageing population
Environmental jobs – scientists or coaches
Nanotechnologists – specialists in small tech devices
Robotic experts
SEO (search engine optimisation) or social media specialists
Transport planning or urban planning jobs – more and more people are now living in cities
Waste management engineers – experts in how we dispose of things we no longer need
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
As skills now become out of date quickly, are long-term careers now finished?
The world of work in the rest of the centuryWill we see more good-quality jobs, with repetitive and hard physical jobs done by machine?
The UN says 50 per cent of jobs will be automated in the next 15 years. What are the implications of this?
Can we hope for more sustainable jobs that build
the local economy?
We will become more aware of our ‘transferable skills’as the jobs market changes very quickly. What are some examples of this?
Will workplaces be more environmentally aware?
Will there be more equal opportunities for people to
be recruited?
Will a guaranteed minimum income become common? Some countries are trying it already.
Will we see tax-paying jobs that contribute to the local economy and reduce poverty?
Will we see fewer people needing to travel abroad
for jobs?
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
Should is often used to describe the ideal or best thing to do. There should be many more green jobs.
There ought to be is used to describe something we want to happen. You can add ‘really’ for emphasis. Governments really ought to tax the big polluters.
Must is used to describe something we see as necessary. There must be global action on climate change
now.
Can is used to talk about general truths. As a nation we can provide better jobs for younger people.
Should be plus ‘-ing’ is used to describe something we expect to happen. Global temperatures should be
falling in the next 15 years.
May’ can be used with a selection of adverbs such as ‘never’, ‘just’ or ‘only’. We may only see the results of
our climate change initiatives in 20 years.
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
You are going to write at least four ideas of at least three sentences each about 21st-century jobs and the world of work in
the 21st century. Here are three examples.
1.
Working from home is becoming more and more common around the world, and this should be reducing the impact on
the climate of travelling to work. The problem is that many of the most polluted locations are in countries where the
‘work from home’ culture is not common. Will we see a change in the near future?
2.
There should be many more jobs in the health sector as we are living longer now. The demand for these jobs will continue to grow over the years as the population ages. Unfortunately, many of these jobs are usually poorly paid, and low-income economies often suffer most from the results of climate change.
3.
We may never see the return of jobs in heavy industry in the most developed countries in the world, and this should have a positive impact on their environments. However, the jobs will continue to exist in developing countries. This brings money to the economies, but at a huge environmental cost. There ought to be stronger environmental protection laws in these locations.
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
21st-century jobs
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are
registered in England as a charity.
The future of work and its impact on the
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Transcript
The future of work and its impact on the
environment
Classroom presentation
www.britishcouncil.org/climate-connection
During and after the lesson, learners will be able to
demonstrate they can:
work collaboratively to analyse and discuss the future of work and its environmental impacts by using 21st-century skills
use a selection of modal verbs as required
write a short analytical paragraph on a collaborative basis.
charity
1.
Existing jobs, that will continue into the future with some small changes, such as doctors or teachers.
New jobs that have only recently arrived and that will continue into the future, such as cyber security
2.
3.
Jobs that don’t exist yet, but that you think will appear in the future
charity.
1.
What are some of the environmental impacts of the workplace?
2.
How might jobs in the 21st century be different from ‘older’ jobs?
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
Driving to work adds to global warming.
Heating or cooling in large offices adds to global warming.People might work from home more often.
••
Will working weeks become longer or shorter?
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
. What types of jobs will we have in the rest of the century? Work in your group collaboratively and make a list of at least four 21st-century jobs. Add a few words about what responsibilities the job has and what you think
its environmental impact is, if any. These may be: a) jobs we have now that will
not be replaced by technology; b) new jobs that have just appeared in our societies; c) jobs that don’t exist yet, but that you predict we will need. E.g.:
Job title
Responsibilities
Environmental impact (if any)
Cyber security specialist
Working with organisations to protect their electronic data from hackers and viruses.
Can work from home – less
travel.Use a lot of data – that has an environmental impact
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
2. What will be the structure and characteristics of work in the rest of the century?
Work together with your group to use the table below to describe the nature of 21st-century work, and the benefits (environmental and other) of and challenges to your ideas. You will need to be creative and think critically.
These may be:
a)
issues that already exist in work
b)Structureand characterisitics
ideas that you predict, or hope, will become common. E.g.: Working from home
Benefits and challengesLess travel – environmental benefits.Good connectivity is not universal – some communities
can’t work from home.
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
What types of jobs will we have in the rest of the century?
Let's see
Artificial intelligence (AI) developers
Big data analyst – specialists who look at data from different sources to find trends and patternsCaring and health sector jobs – we have an ageing population
Environmental jobs – scientists or coaches
Nanotechnologists – specialists in small tech devices
Robotic experts
SEO (search engine optimisation) or social media specialists
Transport planning or urban planning jobs – more and more people are now living in cities
Waste management engineers – experts in how we dispose of things we no longer need
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
As skills now become out of date quickly, are long-term careers now finished?
The world of work in the rest of the centuryWill we see more good-quality jobs, with repetitive and hard physical jobs done by machine?
The UN says 50 per cent of jobs will be automated in the next 15 years. What are the implications of this?
Can we hope for more sustainable jobs that build
the local economy?
We will become more aware of our ‘transferable skills’as the jobs market changes very quickly. What are some examples of this?
Will workplaces be more environmentally aware?
Will there be more equal opportunities for people to
be recruited?
Will a guaranteed minimum income become common? Some countries are trying it already.
Will we see tax-paying jobs that contribute to the local economy and reduce poverty?
Will we see fewer people needing to travel abroad
for jobs?
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
Should is often used to describe the ideal or best thing to do. There should be many more green jobs.
There ought to be is used to describe something we want to happen. You can add ‘really’ for emphasis. Governments really ought to tax the big polluters.
Must is used to describe something we see as necessary. There must be global action on climate change
now.
Can is used to talk about general truths. As a nation we can provide better jobs for younger people.
Should be plus ‘-ing’ is used to describe something we expect to happen. Global temperatures should be
falling in the next 15 years.
May’ can be used with a selection of adverbs such as ‘never’, ‘just’ or ‘only’. We may only see the results of
our climate change initiatives in 20 years.
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
You are going to write at least four ideas of at least three sentences each about 21st-century jobs and the world of work in
the 21st century. Here are three examples.
1.
Working from home is becoming more and more common around the world, and this should be reducing the impact on
the climate of travelling to work. The problem is that many of the most polluted locations are in countries where the
‘work from home’ culture is not common. Will we see a change in the near future?
2.
There should be many more jobs in the health sector as we are living longer now. The demand for these jobs will continue to grow over the years as the population ages. Unfortunately, many of these jobs are usually poorly paid, and low-income economies often suffer most from the results of climate change.
3.
We may never see the return of jobs in heavy industry in the most developed countries in the world, and this should have a positive impact on their environments. However, the jobs will continue to exist in developing countries. This brings money to the economies, but at a huge environmental cost. There ought to be stronger environmental protection laws in these locations.
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s
international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a
charity.
21st-century jobs
www.teachingenglish.org.uk
© The British Council, 2021 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are
registered in England as a charity.