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Climate Literacy and Action for All

Become climate literate to help communicate and tackle key environmental issues in your work and personal life with this online course from Nottingham Trent University.

Duration

3 weeks

Weekly study

2 hours

100% online

How it works

Unlimited subscription

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Gain the skills to choose the climate solutions with the highest impact

In the face of the environmental crisis, it can be easy to feel powerless. However, small changes can transform aspects of our lives and make a real impact. From the food we consume to the transport we use, we can help influence change in systems simply by changing our actions.

On this three-week course, you’ll learn how to become ‘climate literate’ to help you make climate-conscious decisions.

You’ll discover how to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of various human activities and gain the tools to choose climate solutions that have the highest impact, for everyone’s benefit.

Develop a basic understanding of climate justice

To help give you context, you’ll develop a basic understanding of climate change science and carbon storage, as well as climate justice and the related changes needed worldwide.

With this knowledge, you’ll be able to explain climate change science and the best solutions to your colleagues, friends, and family.

Unpack decarbonisation and carbon sinks

You’ll learn how to take a systems approach and explore the decisions that need to be taken on a global scale, including the decarbonisation of society. You’ll delve into the greenhouse gas effects and carbon sinks to help you explore solutions relating to carbon emissions. This knowledge will help you look at how to influence the wider systems to reduce global warming and how to create your own action plan to do this.

Learn from the experts at Nottingham Trent University

Throughout the course, you’ll be guided by the specialists at Nottingham Trent University. By the end, you’ll have become climate literate and have the knowledge and tools to successfully communicate climate solutions.

Week 1
Climate change - who can make a difference?
- Introductions and welcome to the course
  In this first activity, the Lead Educators - Professor Dr Petra Molthan-Hill and Fiona Winfield - will introduce the course and explain what to expect.
- Introducing Week 1
  We will start by looking at the bigger picture, and we will begin to see that there are lots of solutions out there already.
- En-ROADS - where are we currently?
  We will start by looking at the bigger picture, to put climate change into context.
- High-impact solutions - where can we find them?
  Lots of solutions exist already - we just need to understand them, put them into practice (and maybe encourage others to do likewise!). In this activity, we will start to explore some of them.
- Multiple benefits - achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  The SDGs are the 'Global Goals' adopted by the 193 members of the United Nations in 2015. They are all interlinked, and the member countries pledged to achieve them by 2030, in a bid to end poverty and protect the planet.
- Recap of Week 1
  As we come to the end of Week 1, let's just check that everything is clear, and that you know what to expect from Week 2. We will also suggest a couple of extra activities you could do, if you are really keen!
Week 2
Creating a positive future with the best climate solutions
- Introducing Week 2
  We want to start by checking that everything was clear from last week. Then we will explain what we will cover this week.
- Troubled and positive future
  We'll consider various scenarios happening now and what might happen in the future to lead us onto a troubled, or a positive future.
- CO2e and calculations for food
  There are many factors linked to the sourcing and preparation of food that impact the climate, as well as the growing problem of food waste. We look at steps put in place by the NTU catering facility to minimise the impact.
Week 3
Your Action Plan
- Introducing Week 3
  In this final week, we will look at the greenhouse gas effect and carbon sinks. We'll move on to climate solutions related to buildings, embodied carbon and climate justice. We will also explain the Action Plan to you.
- The greenhouse gas effect and carbon sinks
  We focus on the gases emitted by various processes that cause the earth to warm, and introduce 'carbon sinks' that reduce those gases in the atmosphere.
- Building solutions and energy efficiency
  Let's find out more about what we can do to make our buildings more energy-efficient and maybe save money as well!
- Embodied carbon and vulnerability
  As end users we may not realise the embodied carbon that products have incurred through production processes, and how our choices can make an impact.
- Your Action Plan
  In this final activity, we will explain how to set up a Personal Action Plan, to help you make changes to your Carbon Footprint, and perhaps encourage others to join in.