The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) in Scotland proposes to improve vocational training support for young people at Britain’s largest national park.

The authority has been working with Local Enterprise Companies, Careers Scotland, local authorities and the Cairngorms Chamber of Commerce, among others, for more than a year to establish a vocational training scheme aimed at retaining young people in the area and supporting local businesses.

The CNPA will now establish a formal vocational training support structure, which will include bursaries where other financial support is not available; support for businesses to encourage employers to provide work placements; increased awareness of vocational career paths in schools and the introduction of a Park Skills Passport.

Employment options at the park include outdoor leisure, tourism and conservation management as well as agriculture, manufacturing and more traditional trades.

Claire Ross, the CNPA’s education and social inclusion manager, said: “We want to retain more young people in the park by helping them to build careers based on multiple jobs and multi-skilling. This will help address the seasonality of some jobs in the area and will also help deal with some of the barriers to businesses and trainees in vocational training.”

Meanwhile, the authority’s existing Land Based Business Training Project is set to expand following a CNPA board agreement on additional funding and the piloting of a new strand called Public Benefits for All.

The project was initially set up to encourage all those working on estates, farms, crofts, nurseries, woodlands or the outdoor recreation sector to take up more funded training opportunities such as environmental, IT and health and safety courses.

Project manager Kate Christie said: “We envisage increased training to help deliver the four aims of the park. This area of work also clearly links closely with the vocational training scheme for young people.”

The four aims comprise: conservation and enhancement of the area’s natural and cultural heritage; promotion of sustainable use of the park’s natural resources; promoted understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the park (including recreation) and sustainability of the economic and social development of local communities.

A paper on the future of the project beyond 2007 will be presented to the board next year when the newly piloted area of work will be fully assessed.

The CNPA was set up by the Scottish Parliament in 2003 as an umbrella organisation for the Cairngorms national park. Details: www.cairngorms.co.uk