Carbon Literacy Training for Students' Unions

Become Carbon Literacy certified with this training specifically delivered for staff and officers working within HE & FE Students' Unions / Students' Associations.

• You do not need to have any prior knowledge of climate change to take part in this course.
• The interactive online training will take place on Tuesday 19th and Wednesday 20th October, 13:30-16:30 each day (breaks are built-in). This training also requires an additional suggested 4 hours of self-study time.

What does the course cover?

This training will provide attendees with some introductory science on climate change to understand the social and environmental impacts of carbon dioxide emissions. During the training attendees will begin to develop their own toolkit and strategies for acting on and communicating action on climate change.

A Carbon Literate citizen understands how climate change will affect them and the people around them, both geographically and within their own academic or professional setting. A Carbon Literate citizen has acquired the knowledge and skills to develop their own responses to lowering their carbon footprint, and the carbon footprint of others, whilst having the confidence to share their knowledge.

More than just personal changes, Carbon Literacy highlights the need for substantial change and will support you to make an impact in your SU. During the online live training, you will discuss with other SU staff and officers ways in which you can reduce your negative impact and the benefits of doing so. Through sharing ideas and knowledge of existing initiatives, or solutions to SU specific sustainability challenges, you’ll learn about some of the excellent things that SUs are already doing, motivating and inspiring each other to continue taking action on climate change. And you may even spark some ideas and build a network to partner with attendees from another SU for a project!

Carbon Literacy certification will be awarded following the successful completion of our approved Carbon Literacy course, after which each learner is awarded a uniquely-coded Carbon Literacy certificate to reference that achievement (subject to final evaluation assessment).

As a result of attending this training, learners will:

• Understand the basic science behind climate change;
• Realise the interconnectivity between social equity & climate change;
• Understand what you and others can do to act on climate change;
• Recognise how to strategise and skills for communicating action on climate change.

Course requirements:

This training is open to any staff or officers working within HE & FE Students' Unions/Students' Associations. You will be required to attend two half-day interactive online training sessions as well as complete 4 hours of self-directed study, outside of the live accredited training. After you have completed the training, you will complete a final assessment form detailing what you learnt throughout the training and how you will take your learning forward. Your assessment form will be sent to the Carbon Literacy Project for approval, and, if approved, you will be awarded certification.

Where is this training taking place?

• You will be emailed information for the self-study and the live online training will take place on Zoom. Participants will be sent the Zoom link at least 48 hours before the training begins.

We are committed to making our events as accessible as possible. If you have any requirements regarding accessibility, please let us know. Specifically, we can provide slides in advanced or in a particular format, captioned recordings sent out following the event and suitable accessibility breaks. If you have any other requirements please let us know by emailing learningacademy@sos-uk.org and we will try to meet those needs where possible. There will be regular comfort breaks. SOS-UK is a charity and the costs of training cover our staff time and related costs to deliver this. We would suggest that the cost of this training is covered by the students' union, or institution, rather than the individual themselves.

• SUs can also purchase places through the SOS-UK SU sign-up form and will be sent an invoice.
• If your SU is interested in a bespoke training, this starts from £2,000+VAT for 20 spaces and includes certification for attendees. Find out more on our Learning Academy page or get in touch on learningacademy@sos-uk.org.