Training

Free online eco-literacy courses to help community groups to respond to the nature crisis

Nabod Natur – Nature Wise is an online training programme from Cynnal Cymru – Sustain Wales which teaches you about how the natural environment works, the threats it faces, and how we can all help nature thrive.

Thanks to funding from the Moondance foundation, we are offering FREE places on our Nature Wise Eco-literacy course. Between May – July 2023 we will be offering regular online courses both in English and Welsh.

About Nabod Natur – Nature Wise

Nature Wise eco-literacy is a science-based, action-focused course to help you to understand the relationships between people and natural systems. It shares knowledge, builds understanding and provide the tools to motivate and catalyse action.

What you will learn about:

Your Nature Wise eco-literacy course will help you to become more knowledgeable and confident about helping to tackle the nature crisis both on your doorstep and further afield. Part of the course involves developing an action plan for nature based on what you will have explored during the course. This can be for your personal life or for your group/organisation.

The course is interactive. Attendees will work in small groups and also take part in group discussions to explore course topics.


Who should apply?

The Nature Wise Eco-literacy course is for:

  • Welsh community or voluntary organisations.
  • Any member of staff, volunteer or trustee for a voluntary organisation or community group can register. Town and community councillors in these areas are also eligible.

Course Dates

CourseSession 1 – 2.5 hoursSession 2 – 2.5 hours
12nd May 2023 10am – 12:30pm (English)4th May 2023 10am – 12:30pm (English)
23rd May 2023 10am – 12:30pm (Cymraeg) 5th May 2023 10am – 12:30pm (Cymraeg)
316th May 2023 10am – 12:30pm (Cymraeg)18th May 2023 10am – 12:30pm (Cymraeg)
45th June 2023 1:30 – 4pm (English)7th June 2023 1:30 – 4pm (English)
513th June 2023 10am – 12:30pm (Cymraeg)15th June 2023 10am – 12:30pm (Cymraeg)
620th June 2023 10am – 12:30pm (English)22nd June 2023 10am – 12:30pm (English)
74th July 2023 10am – 12:30pm (Cymraeg)6th July 2023 10am – 12:30pm (Cymraeg)
811th July 2023 10am – 12:30pm (English)13th July 2023 10am-12:30pm (English)
925th July 2023 10am – 12:30pm (English)27th July 2023 10am – 12:30pm (English)

Course Commitment (5 hours) 

You’ll need just five hours to take part, centred on two online sessions held during the same week, held on a Tuesday and a Thursday or a Monday and Wednesday depending on the dates you select.

On successful completion of both session you will be awarded a certificate.

Please note: you must attend both sessions to complete the course. 

How do I register?

Please register your free place via Ticketsource.

For any other enquiries, please email training@cynnalcymru.com

Places are limited, so we are aiming to allocate places as fairly as possible.


FAQs

Do I need to have any prior knowledge of nature systems?

Nature Wise is a short course for everyone. No previous knowledge is necessary.

What do I need to participate?

  • You will need access to computer with internet access to attend and participate in the online facilitated sessions.
  • We recommend a computer or tablet as you will be shown course materials containing images, slides and videos.
  • The online sessions will take part on Zoom. In the sessions you will need access to a microphone.

What if I cannot attend on those days?

You do need to attend both sessions to complete the course. If you are not available at the advertised times but would still like to do the course, please get in touch and we will add you to a list for a course scheduled outside these times.

What if my whole group wants to do the course?

If you have a group of 10 or more that would like to do the course, please get in touch and we can see if it is possible to arrange a separate course at a time to suit you.

Will there be more courses?

We will be running courses between May – July 2023.

Where can I learn more?

For more details on our Nature Wise courses, visit the Cynnal Cymru training platform.

10 years of The Carbon Literacy Project

It was five years ago that I first met Dave Coleman, co-founder and director of the Carbon Literacy Project. He had come to Wales at the invitation of the then Director of the Size of Wales Project. They had met at the historic Paris COP summit where The Project was awarded TAP100 status. Dave presented the Carbon Literacy Project on a sunny morning to a small group of us in Cardiff. At that time, in 2016, the CL Project was only operating in Manchester and Scotland and Dave was looking for partners in other parts of the UK. I listened carefully, asked questions and then reported excitedly to my colleagues in Cynnal Cymru that I had found something that we simply had to get involved with.

We delivered our first Carbon Literacy course in 2017 and five years, 700+ trainees 200+ organisations and 1476 pledges later, I had the great pleasure to attend the tenth birthday party of the Carbon Literacy Project on Tuesday the 1st of November 2022 in Manchester.

In the early days after first meeting Dave, we worked together to introduce Carbon Literacy in Wales. Progress was slow at first but the recent exponential growth of the project in Wales is mirrored across the world. Globally the project is now on 43.5 thousand trainees and just under four thousand organisations engaged. Dave and colleagues have extrapolated the rate of growth and think a target of 1 million people trained could be reached by 2030 or earlier. Each month, the calculations push that target closer to 2022, month by month, as the enquiries, bookings and certifications continue to pour in.

I am very pleased to be able to say that I was the first certified Carbon Literacy trainer in Wales and that Cynnal Cymru was the first organisation in Wales to champion the project. We worked hard to establish it and prove its worth but hey look – this isn’t about me or us. Carbon Literacy is about everyone. We are delighted that more people are offering the training in Wales and as we say to all our clients, our role is to start you off. Ultimately Carbon Literacy works best when the trainee is being trained by someone like them…. When the conversations around climate change are embedded in the context of the participants and when actions are agreed in a collaborative atmosphere by peers challenging each other and holding each other to account. And everyone needs to get better at following up on the actions pledged and calculating/estimating the carbon savings that result.

Being in Manchester for the tenth birthday celebration felt like being part of a family. But every one of us there knew that while we could pause to savour the success, our pleasure could only be short lived. There is still an enormous mountain to climb. Global warming looms over us like a huge wave of destruction threatening everything we love and take for granted. There are powerful forces of ignorance and greed that push against the growing surge of citizen action and enlightened corporate commitment. People are asking us what we should be looking for from COP in Egypt. Our message is clear. Look for nothing. Look only to your own spheres of control and influence. Take care of your world. You are one of a growing number. Tipping points can be positive as well as negative and no-one knows which small action will start the avalanche or spark the revolution. The world does change for better as well as for worse. For one short evening in Manchester we smiled and enjoyed our achievements but the following day it was back to work. Indeed, some important colleagues missed the celebration because they were delivering evening Carbon Literacy training! This does not stop. It can not stop. Cynnal Cymru is ready to help you start your Carbon Literacy journey. We are waiting to hear from you.

Find out more about our Carbon Literacy and Train the Trainer courses

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