Do you want to become Carbon Literate?
Background of Carbon Literacy
The concept of Carbon Literacy started in Manchester when
organisations crowd-sourced a carbon management action plan for the
city. The idea is simple: if you work, live or study in Manchester,
you should be able to receive a day’s worth of training on the
causes and consequences of climate change.
Put simply, the training is about; “Understanding what I need
to do, why I need to do it, where I can get help to do it, actually
doing it, and seeing that I’ve done it.”
The Carbon Literacy Project, run by the Carbon Literacy
Trust, is based on the key aim that if we are to cut
our carbon emissions by the kind of reduction targets demanded of
us by science, by 2050, then we will need to change the culture as
well as the technology.
Development of Carbon Literacy in Wales
Rhodri Thomas, who delivers training on sustainability for
Cynnal Cymru –
Sustain Wales, has been working with the Carbon
Literacy Trust in Manchester to bring the idea to Wales. Scotland
already has an established programme of Carbon Literacy training as
does the BBC across the UK.
Cynnal Cymru is now working with Environet Cymru and others to
design suitable courses for all sectors of society in Wales.
It is important to note that The Carbon Literacy Trust maintains
an accreditation and quality control standard so in order to label
a course as Carbon Literacy, you first have to go on a certified
course yourself, and then use materials and approaches that have
been certified by the Trust.
An important part of the concept is that people should learn from
others like them. So far, training has been delivered to
individuals and teams within several public and community
organisations, including:
– Public Health Wales
– The National Museum of Wales
– Grwp Cynefin
– Renew Wales
– Community Land Advisory Service
– Women’s Institute
– WCVA
Cynnal Cymru and its partners are in the process of developing new
courses and arranging for train the trainer sessions to enable
these to be delivered on a peer to peer basis.
Each person who successfully completes a course by identifying
practical actions that they can take at home or in their
organisation, committing to these and monitoring their impacts,
receives a certificate. The project partners believe that this is a
useful first step on a journey to further qualifications in diverse
but relevant fields such as management of buildings, installation
and maintenance of technology, food growing and land
management.
Rhodri says; “Climate change is going to affect all of us one
way or another and certainly it will define the lives of today’s
young people as they age. It is a matter of existential expediency
that we all do everything we can to foster a low carbon culture.
This means not just embracing renewable energy and energy efficient
technology but understanding the cycles of materials and energy in
which our lives are embedded and what we ask of these natural
cycles by the lifestyles we adopt.
The climate has always changed and the earth has been much
warmer than it is today, but our whole global civilisation has
evolved within a narrow band of temperature that fluctuated with a
relatively slow pace.
If we care about ourselves and the people we love, never mind
precious landscapes or myriad other species, we should care about
climate change and resolve to become Carbon
Literate.”
Get involved
Please contact Cynnal Cymru if you would like to find out more
about Carbon
Literacy training and accreditation
Do you want to safeguard against climate change
risks?
Our new ‘Tackling
Climate Change‘ guide is designed to give you a basic
understanding of climate issues and where to find further support
to help you manage your climate risks.
If you have any queries or would like to know more about how to
help tackle or mitigate climate change visit our web-pages
or email: environet@wcva.org.uk
