Northern Ireland’s business community is coming together to support the delivery of industry-led careers inspiration events across the province, engaging almost 7,500 Year 9 pupils in June 2022.

4C UR Future LIVE is an innovative and fast-paced event that uses skills games and work-based challenges, designed and delivered in collaboration with local employers, to help young people get an insight into the future world of work.

The initiative, which aims to help every participant make more informed education and career choices, is the brainchild of 4C UR Future’s Founder, Rose Mary Stalker. Following a successful pilot in June 2019, the social enterprise is taking the show on the road, delivering an at-scale pilot of one event in every council area in June 2022.

The LIVE events are funded and resourced by the Northern Ireland business community and are hosted with support from ten councils. The events are free to schools, including free transport, which is being supported by Translink.

Charlotte Richardson, PR Manager at Translink, said:

We’re delighted to be able to support this fantastic series of events, which are taking place across Northern Ireland; investing in our young people and building confidence, skills, and knowledge to help them identify the many opportunities and the wide variety of career paths and industries open to them. Access to events like this is vital to the next generation and to the workforce of the future and we’re proud to be a member of 4C UR Future.”

‘Race To Net Zero’ is just one of the games featured at LIVE events, which is being co-designed and delivered by NI Water and NIE Networks. With sustainability high on the agenda, the game focuses on the importance of the production of green energy and clean water.

Edel Creery, Head of Communications & Stakeholder Engagement at NIE Networks, said:

Energy is a huge part of our daily lives, and for the younger generation in particular, understanding how our everyday decisions and energy choices impacts the world around us is a priority. NIE Networks’ vision is to deliver a sustainable energy system for all and we need young, creative thinkers and innovative problem-solvers to help us achieve that.”

“The ‘Race To Net Zero’ game is a dynamic and fun way to demonstrate to young people how they can get involved, showing that by collaborating with each other on the future of our energy systems, we can tackle climate change in a meaningful way. We are looking forward to meeting the engineers, designers, and innovators of the future at the 4C UR Future LIVE events in June.”

See the full range of events – 4C UR Future

As a grassroots organisation, the career inspiration movement is made possible by the collective efforts of member companies and volunteer community; the Career Heroes.
Volunteer roles include:

  • Game Masters who help deliver and facilitate the LIVE games.
  • Event Stewards who help ensure everything runs smoothly.
  • Content Crew who make sure all the fun is captured in photos and videos.

If you’d like to volunteer find out more at 4Volunteers – 4C UR Future