We offer free Carbon Literacy for Universities training to staff and students.

This short course is usually delivered over two weeks, with 1-2 hours of self study and one 3-hour taught session (either online or face to face) each week. The course has been developed by Manchester Metropolitan University in collaboration with the Carbon Literacy Trust, and successful completion of the course results in certification.

We also offer introductory taster sessions to any staff or students who would like to get a better understanding of what carbon literacy means and whether enrolment in the course is right for them.

Using a combination of presentations, videos, discussions and quizzes, Carbon Literacy Training aims to promote:

“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.”

If you are interested in taking this course, you can watch a quick introduction to climate science. You can also use the WWF Footprint Calculator to have a go at calculating your personal carbon footprint, and compare it to the national average.

Staff can find and book on to these opportunities via StaffLearn, and students can find them on our Sustainability Events page.

We also welcome enquiries by email to carbonliteracytraining@canterbury.ac.uk from students and staff who would like to talk to us about arranging additional dates for CLT taster sessions or the full CLT workshop for a particular course, staff team or student society

If you or your team/class/SU society are interested in joining the training and earning a certificate in Carbon Literacy, we'll try our best to arrange for additional CLT taster sessions or training workshops to fit your needs and work around your schedule - for example, we can deliver taster sessions during module lecture or seminar windows, at team or faculty conferences or meetings, offer training to societies in Wednesday afternoon social slots and more.

If you'd like to talk about this, or if you have any questions and want to chat to a member of the team before you commit, drop us an email and we'll take it from there.

We offer free Climate Fresk workshops to staff and students.

Climate Fresk is a three-hour workshop where participants learn about the science of climate change from cause to effect, and has already had more than one million participants worldwide.

Using facts and data from the internationally respected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, Fresk comprises a problem-solving collaborative card game, a creative activity and a discussion to ensure that everyone leaves with a strong understanding of how climate change works and where we must look for climate solutions.

You can keep an eye out for open Climate Fresk events that you can book onto across both semesters of the academic year, but we would also be very happy to hear from students or staff who would like to discuss arranging a Climate Fresk workshop for a group of colleagues, class-mates or friends on a date and time that suits them.

Due to the nature of this activity, it requires a minimum group size of three to effectively run, and while we can accommodate larger groups, we try to arrange for one facilitator to every four to six participants which makes this less well suited for a large class activity.

Inspired by the educational gaming success of Climate Fresk, in autumn 2023 we started piloting an escape room-style game, in which participants solve puzzles and riddles, learn about our planet, and find all the clues to uncover the truth about the climate emergency and try to save the world against the clock. The escape room takes around an hour and a half to complete and is followed by a debrief and opportunity for discussion.

If you're interested in booking a climate escape room for you and some friends or colleagues, we can accommodate up to six people per booking and are happy to work with you to find a date, time and place for an on-demand workshop. Just email us at sustainability@canterbury.ac.uk

You can also keep an eye out for open Climate Escape Room events that you can book onto across both semesters of the academic year.

In autumn/winter 2023, we started piloting a variation on the theme of the Climate Cafés we trialled last year: with less hot beverages and more nature. On the first Thursday of every month, weather allowing, staff and students are most welcome to join us for a 45-minute Eco Hope Nature Walk starting and finishing at the Canterbury campus. A chance to grab some fresh air, stretch your legs, and chat about your climate hopes and anxieties in friendly company.

Take a look at our Sustainability events for upcoming Eco Hope Nature Walk dates. Event listings will include a booking a link - and while booking isn't mandatory, it is encouraged, because it allows us to get in touch with you in the event that poor weather makes the activity unsafe and we need to postpone or cancel.

For over a decade we've been working alongside student and staff volunteers tending and cultivating a peaceful community garden in a quiet corner of the Canterbury campus. Curated and care for with biodiversity and permaculture principles in mind, the Johnson Wellbeing Garden has an abundance of local flora and fauna, with bird boxes, resident squirrels and newts, a small pond, a dead hedge and a couple of seating areas. It is also home to a handful of mini-allotments that students and staff can adopt to grow their own herbs, flowers, fruit and veg on campus.

Every Wednesday afternoon during term time, from 3 - 4.30pm, weather allowing, staff and students can come along to Potter and Prune in the garden with us. You can use the time to hang out and enjoy the local flora and fauna, work on your own veg patch, or grab a spade and get stuck in helping to tending and maintain our community wildlife garden.

The Johnson Wellbeing Garden can be accessed via a few stone steps through the gate to the right of the entrance to the Johnson building on the North Holmes Road campus, or if you need step-free access, there is a route through Johnson building.

You can find and confirm upcoming Potter and Prune dates on our Sustainability Events page, and if you're collecting volunteering hours, you can sign up as an official Potter and Prune volunteer on the CCSU volunteering portal.