The prime minister, Gordon Brown, has announced 10,000 new green work placements in partnership with the Eden Project.

Speaking yesterday at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, Brown said: "We will work with the Eden Project and Mayday Network to create the biggest group of green work placements we have ever had - up to 10,000 green job placements so our young people can make the most of the opportunities of the low carbon economy and open it up for their abilities to flourish."

Eden is now in discussion with the Government to detail how the placements will be funded and delivered.

Eden's managing director, Gaynor Coley, said: "The announcement is great news. Education and the environment are at the heart of what we do at Eden and during the summer we ran a very successful Green Talent pilot project in partnership with Arrival Education, which enabled the young people taking part to understand our dependence on the natural world and that we have to adapt - and adapt quickly to the challenges of the 21^st century."