University of Chichester recognised with Carbon Literacy accreditation
The University of Chichester is delighted to announce that we have been accredited as a Bronze Carbon Literate Educator by the UN-recognised Carbon Literacy Project. This prestigious accreditation recognises our commitment to embed climate education and action, through Carbon Literacy, into our educational institution and ethos, and facilitate a cultural shift to a zero-carbon society.
Carbon Literacy is defined as ‘An awareness of the carbon dioxide costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions, on an individual, community and organisational basis’ and revolves around a day’s worth of learning and action on climate change.
Our Carbon Literacy training programme has been developed from the Manchester Metropolitan University Toolkit course. To become accredited as a Bronze Carbon Literate Educator, we trained 35 staff in Carbon Literacy.
As a result, we have implemented Carbon Literacy Training into the curriculum for our Business School students and are making plans to extend this to all areas of study. We are also running department specific training courses for both the Careers Service and Marketing, Recruitment, Admissions and Communications teams.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane Longmore said: “We are delighted to take the next step on our sustainability journey and to be recognised as a Bronze Carbon Literate Educator. As a university we are committed to becoming a low-carbon institution, having a positive impact on our local community.”
Other stand-out actions pledged include staff changing the way they commute to campus and travel for work and leisure, as well as pledging to take action such as advocating for the incorporation of low carbon and energy reduction technologies into the design and specification of capital building projects procured by the University. Student pledges include things such as changing eating habits to reduce their meat consumption and using public transport more frequently than driving.
We intend to build on this achievement by increasing the number of Carbon Literate citizens to build a community of suitably minded staff and students through the inclusion of training in the curriculum and staff development programme.
We also have plans to deliver training through our Careers service to the local small businesses we work with to ensure the companies we work with share our values and knowledge in this area.
