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We are proud to share the news that we are the first organisation in Northern Ireland to achieve Carbon Literacy Organisation (CLO) Bronze status for the progress that we have made in reducing carbon emissions.

The Carbon Literacy Project awarded Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful the accreditation in recognition of the development and delivery of a range of Carbon Literacy programmes for teachers, youth and community leaders and for successfully guiding the majority of our team across the organisation through their own certified Carbon Literacy training.

Since the final months of 2021, internal sessions have been delivered in modular format by our in-house Climate Action team, and staff have committed to a mandatory carbon-cutting pledge as part of their training. Some notable examples include transitions to vegan and meat-reducing diets, installation of solar panels and solar-charging devices at home, and responsible disposal of hard-to-recycle items through local Terracycle programmes.

Our CEO, Dr Ian Humphreys, commented on the success: “We are a great believer in practising what we preach, and earning Bronze accreditation from The Carbon Literacy Project is an important step in helping Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful get our own house in order. On behalf of the wider organisation, I would like to thank Scott and his entire team for driving us towards this proud award.”

Dave Coleman, Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Carbon Literacy Project added: "We’re delighted to be able to present the first Carbon Literate Organisation award in Northern Ireland to Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and congratulate them on their achievement. The award recognises their commitment to supporting their staff to become Carbon Literate, maintaining a low carbon culture in the organisation to reduce carbon emissions, and advocating and working to deliver reduced carbon emissions across a range of groups in society, creating a more sustainable economy now, and a better future for tomorrow, for everyone in Northern Ireland and beyond."

Carbon Literate Organisation accreditation is a tiered system, spanning from Bronze and Silver, right through to Gold and Platinum. Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful is already working towards the Silver standard, which will involve embedding Carbon Literacy throughout our organisation performance systems and keeping the public aware of our carbon journey.

GCSE and AS level students in Northern Ireland will be able to gain a brand new qualification in climate change and environmental action from September. The new OCN NI Level 2 Certificate in Reducing Carbon Footprints Through Environmental Action has just been added to the Department of Education list of courses approved for teaching in schools in Northern Ireland (NIEFQAN) and will be awarded by the Open College Network, Northern Ireland (OCN NI).

Students will have the opportunity to follow a selection of project-based modules in ‘Understanding the role of Carbon in Climate Change’, ‘Biodiversity Recovery’, ‘Tackling Single-Use Plastics’, ‘Fast Fashion’ and ‘Climate Campaigning’. The qualification is fully assessed through coursework.

To date almost 30 teachers in Northern Ireland have completed a free Carbon Literacy training course, funded by Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), to enable teachers to support and deliver carbon literacy programmes for students within their schools.

Nicole Sloan, who teaches at Foyle College, has recently had a number of students complete an initial pilot of the Carbon Smart Students carbon literacy course, funded by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). She says she is excited about the new OCN NI course and the opportunities it will open up for students to obtain a formally recognised qualification in climate change;

“I think this new opportunity to gain a formal qualification in climate change and carbon literacy is hugely significant. Our school has been an active member of Eco-Schools for a number of years and we’ve seen the benefits that has brought to so many of our students. It has broadened their outlook and enabled them to link and cross-reference other parts of the curriculum as part of a global and green theme, which I think is so important for their futures. Our students found the initial carbon literacy training that they have now completed, enlightening and very empowering. They took their time to really absorb all of the information they were given, discussed it at home and have started to apply changes in their own lives. These changes are to lower their carbon footprint which will make a difference locally and globally, for people now and for generations to come. Knowledge is power and no matter which path a young person intends to follow career-wise, this knowledge is important now.”

Charlene McKeown who manages the Eco-Schools NI programme for Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said; “We envisage schools taking this new qualification on board as a Key Stage 4 option to complement courses like Geography or Travel and Tourism. The development of this new qualification has been a hugely positive collaboration between a number of organisations with an exciting outcome for young people.”

Martin Flynn, Chief Executive from OCN NI said; We are delighted to have been able to develop this innovative qualification on climate change and environmental action. Working in collaboration with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Action Renewables, we believe that the new qualifications, which will be available to schools and their students from September 2022, will prove to be an extremely popular choice with young people. The younger generation has already demonstrated their growing passion to not only understand the climate change debate but are committed to taking action which will help halt and reverse its effects in the future. Initial feedback from our partners in the schools’ sector is extremely positive and we are looking forward to rolling out the innovative new qualification from September.”

Terry Waugh, CEO of Action Renewables, Eco-Schools’ Climate Action partner, said; “Our funding towards the development of a branded Climate Advocacy resource pack to support the teaching of this new qualification is very exciting and strengthens our charitable objectives in the education of young people.”

Ends.

For additional media information / interviews, please contact Kate Gormley, Communications Manager, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, kate.gormley@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org / 07469 659948

Environmental charity, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, has today announced that it will hold a Climate Clever Communities Summit at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast today (June 15th). The event, which will be hosted by the BBC NI Environment Correspondent, Louise Cullen, will feature a number of distinguished speakers, including contributors from Scotland Beautiful and All Ireland winners of the Tidy Town’s competition in the Republic of Ireland.

The summit is the culmination of the Climate Clever Communities project, which is is funded by the UK Community Renewal Fund and delivered by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.

The scheme aimed to help implement the UK government’s Net Zero Strategy by educating local communities and businesses in Northern Ireland, and across the UK, on the impact of climate change, and empowering them to take positive action.

Comprised of three key components, the Climate Clever Communities project focused on: the provision of Carbon literacy training to the community and tourism sectors; the Climate Challenge Fund grant programme, which enables groups from all sectors to apply for funding for grassroots activities that could reduce carbon emissions; and intensive work with ten groups supported by Live Here Love Here, Keep Northern Ireland’s civic pride campaign. In a first for Northern Ireland, the initiative saw community groups assisted with the creation of local climate action plans.

Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful says, “We are proud to introduce the Climate Clever Communities Summit to showcase the impact of the Climate Clever Communities project, explore lessons learned, identify recommendations for future programmes and, importantly, to provide a platform for programme participants to share their insights.

“At Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, we’re dedicated to creating a world where people and nature thrive, and we hope that the summit will enable transformative outcomes through community-driven climate action, create a space for innovation and interactivity, and showcase solutions.

“We also hope that it will support dialogue between government agencies, local authorities, other service providers and community groups, to ascertain what we need to do to transition to low carbon society.”

Over 200 delegates are expected to attend the event, which will see speakers from across the UK. The audience will comprise of community groups, partners and funders of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, central and local government representatives, other NGO organisations and a number of businesses.

Speaker, Heather Ashworth, Communities Team Project Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful, comments, “It is an honour to be invited to speak at the Climate Clever Communities Summit.

“This is an incredibly important forum for discussing the climate crisis. At Keep Scotland Beautiful, we have seen first-hand how important communities are in making an impact in this space, especially with our Community Climate Action Plan programme. A real difference can be made at grassroots level and initiatives like the Climate Clever Communities project are pivotal to realising this.”

Also speaking at the event will be Cormac McCarthy, Chairperson of Ennis Tidy Towns who were the overall Winner of 2021 Tidy Towns Competition. Cormac will talk about the Tidy Towns experience in the Republic of Ireland.

He says, “I am delighted to be speaking at the Climate Clever Communities Summit.

“As a passionate advocate for community-led change, I feel that the role played by the Community and Voluntary Sector in response to the climate crisis is incredibly important, and this event, and the project that it showcases, are a vital step towards achieving to net zero emissions by 2050.”