Environmental charity, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, has announced that community groups which have signed up for its Carbon Literacy training programmes, may also be eligible to apply for the new Climate Change Challenge Fund, an environmental grant worth up to £5000, financed by the UK Government through the UK Community Renewal Fund.
The charity is encouraging groups including schools, community organisations and youth organisations across Northern Ireland to use both the training and grant assistance to transform their response to the climate emergency. Applications are particularly welcome from groups who have completed carbon literacy training.
Climate Change Challenge Fund
The Climate Change Challenge Fund will support a range of activities, from the development of climate action plans to the development of pilot projects to reduce carbon footprint. Applications will close on 8th April 2022.
Carbon Literacy programmes, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and delivered by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, aim to equip teachers, community leaders and youth leaders with knowledge, understanding and skills with which to tackle the climate emergency at local level.
The Carbon Literacy training programmes are tailored to the needs and interests of groups and will be delivered in a variety of settings to make it as easy as possible for groups to get involved.
Environment Minister, Edwin Poots, commented, “Our hope is that the Carbon Literacy programmes will educate our young people and community groups with the knowledge that they need to help mitigate the threat of climate change by adjusting their day-to-day behaviour. The initiative, funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and delivered by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, is designed to empower us all to make better choices for our environment.”
In addition to enabling access to the Climate Change Challenge Fund, Carbon Literacy training will also be of interest to many teachers as it will equip them to deliver a new climate focused GCSE, accredited by the Open College Network. The GCSE, entitled ‘Reducing Carbon Footprints Through Environmental Action’ will be available to teach from September 2022.
Dr Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said, “Young people are demanding information and expressing a clear desire to act in response to the climate emergency. In the near future we’d like to see carbon education being easily accessible for all young people.”
Kate Gormley, Communications Manager for Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said, “Feedback from early participants on our carbon literacy training courses has been overwhelmingly positive, with people praising the high quality of the resources and the opportunity to discuss the issue of climate change in a supportive environment.”
The Carbon Literacy Programmes are delivered in partnership with the registered charity, the Carbon Literacy Project. To book a place on one of the training courses please visit: https://www.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org/carbonliteracy
If you are interested in finding out further information about the Carbon Literacy accredited programmes and/or the Open College Network GCSE ‘Reducing Carbon Footprints Through Environmental Action’ please email [email protected] or [email protected]
To find out more about the Climate Change Challenge Fund, please email: [email protected]
