Future repairers: AI-enabled skills for the circular economy

Wales faces two connected challenges: a growing green skills gap and limited access to employment opportunities for young people. As the country shifts towards a circular economy, demand for repair and reuse skills is increasing, but many organisations lack the training capacity to meet it. Teaching these skills can also be difficult, as learners must follow detailed instructions while keeping both hands free for the repair activity. This combination of skills shortages, delivery challenges and limited access to structured training is slowing progress towards both environmental goals and wider workforce development.

The project will develop an AI-enabled training platform for repair and reuse skills, integrated with smart glasses. The system will provide hands-free, real-time guidance during repair tasks, while allowing tutors to observe sessions remotely and deliver demonstrations. Sessions will be recorded, tagged and stored within the platform to create reusable training resources and evidence of competence. The platform will combine immersive tutorials, structured modules and AI-supported content discovery, providing flexible learning pathways that cater to a wide range of needs and learning styles.

This approach will support learners to build practical repair skills more effectively while increasing access to training in underserved or remote areas. It will also help providers deliver hands-on learning at scale and make better use of tutor expertise through remote support. This approach could help address green skills shortages and support the transition to a circular economy. At scale, this model could be applied across other areas of technical and vocational training where hands-on skills are required.