Do you understand the connection between our consumption of stuff and climate change?

Training and workshops delivered in the Highlands lead to national opportunity

Circular Economy training is now being offered across Scotland, both as an accredited Carbon Literacy course and shorter introductory sessions, following successful delivery in the Highlands.

Developed in partnership with Circular Communities Scotland and funded by The National Lottery Climate Action Fund as part of the legacy of the Highland Community Waste Partnership (HCWP), the training and workshops explore our relationship between consumption (the things we buy and use and dispose of) and climate change.

A full day of accredited Carbon Literacy training was organised in September in Inverness and five people attended – all of them going on to be certified as Carbon Literate by the Carbon Literacy Project and pledging at least two activities that would create a lasting impact.

Seven people attended the 2.5 hour introductory workshop which took place online providing a concise introduction to the Circular Economy.

Katie Murray, Development Manager commented, “We received fantastic participant feedback from our post course surveys – all agreeing that they enjoyed it, found the resources useful and improved understanding and confidence across key areas.

“The Highland Community Waste Partnership helped us identify the need for the connections between our consumption and climate change, so it was important to us that we collaborated with Circular Communities Scotland to develop and test these courses.

“We were able to identify key learnings during the trial and are confident that there are strong learning outcomes.  We also found that linking the circular economy to the climate emergency helped people to understand the relationships and interconnectivity of what we buy and use and dispose of.

“We want Scotland to be climate literate and are ready now to offer people across Scotland the opportunity to attend training and workshops to support them identify positive actions they could take to reduce their consumption and combat climate change.”

The key learning outcomes of the training included:

- understanding what consumption is;

- the linear model vs the circular economy model;

- knowing what is being done locally, nationally and internationally to address the climate crisis and move towards a circular economy;

- identifying climate impacts, risks and opportunities for Scotland and communities; and

-highlighting the role of local action and its impact in key areas such as food waste, packaging and share and repair.

You can find out more about this training, the cost and when it will be delivered on our website - Circular Economy | Keep Scotland Beautiful