Net Zero Now - Cambridge Carbon Footprint

Supporting community action on climate change

With support from

Supporting community action on climate change

With support from

Introducing Net Zero Skills

Following on from our hugely successful Net Zero Now training programme in South Cambridgeshire last year, Cambridge Carbon Footprint are offering the Net Zero Skills sessions to residents in and around Cambridge this March.

Covering the basics of carbon reduction, climate action planning, organising and communicating, the Net Zero Skills training sessions will empower attendees to take a leading role in delivering activities in their workplace and local communities.

Find out more and book now

Net Zero Now will be returning in 2023

Applications will open in April. Please check back then to apply, or get in touch using the box below if you would like an email when applications are open.

We are excited to announce that once again we will be offering the Net Zero Now Programme to South Cambridgeshire residents!

Net Zero Now is a free training programme designed to give you the knowledge and confidence to become a climate leader, supporting your community to accelerate the move to net zero emissions. This is done through a small number of both virtual and in-person workshops bringing you together with other communities and individuals to support and learn from each other to deliver effective carbon reduction activities, events and communications.

Thanks once again to the Zero Carbon Communities Fund, as well as the National Lottery Community Fund, for funding this programme.

“The Zoom sessions worked really well, removing any need for travel time to attend; adding face-to-face events to the mix then really complemented the online delivery. The course was also exceptionally well thought out and delivered.”

“I have learnt that there are some good things that can be done to help this problem but that they do need to be tailored to what is actually achievable. It is very easy to think big and then fail rather to think reasonably and succeed.”

"Great to hear: Never start something alone - start as a group at least 2 and grow the regulars"

“I liked the timings of the Course and the number of sessions. The speakers were good and the information was well delivered”

"Sessions like these are really helpful for learning and encouragement to do something (which is much better than doing nothing!)"

"There were some really powerful bits of information ... which were shocking and useful for engagement I thought. I also thought the process of looking at the why, where etc. of your climate action was really useful. Nice to chat with likeminded people all on our different journeys..."

About Net Zero Now

Approximately 60% of the changes needed to reach net zero by 2050 will require changes to the way we live our lives. We’ll need to reduce energy use, make changes to the way we travel, what we eat, how much we buy and how we dispose of things. This means that, alongside calling for the UK Government to implement top-down policies to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint, in the coming months and years each individual and community will need to find positive ways to adapt, change and thrive as we move towards net zero emissions.

In 2021 Cambridge Carbon Footprint, with support from the South Cambridgeshire District Council Zero Carbon Communities fund, launched and ran Net Zero Now and in early 2022 Cambridge City Council supported our short series, Net Zero Skills. As a result, we created a series of training videos, free as an online resource for anyone to undertake in their own time at home.

This free training is designed to enable everyone, regardless of knowledge, skills or experience to participate. The course is most relevant to those who haven’t run an environmental project in their community before, are interested in doing so but unsure where to start. We will provide the tools to get started with community action on carbon reduction and bring together experienced local community leaders who can help you to get started with your initiative. This could be something as simple as setting up a new local clothes swap, or something as big as a community energy scheme.

Get in touch

We will be launching the next programme in Spring 2023.

Explore the free online training course

Find out more information or begin working through
the course materials at your own pace

Explore the online course

FAQs

Who is the training programme for?

Net Zero Now is for residents of South Cambridgeshire who would like to learn more about how to bring climate action into their community. This could be through

combining environmental action into your existing activities (e.g. within community or faith groups),
supporting an existing environmental group or activity or
setting up a new project (e.g. community energy project).

There is only a limited number of places available on the course, so we will select applicants to reflect a broad spectrum of local parishes, individual backgrounds, organisation types, pre-existing knowledge and strengths.

As this programme is looking to bring together keen residents from various backgrounds, existing knowledge or experience is not as important as enthusiasm and motivation to take action in your local community.

What does the course involve?

Online sessions

The course consists of eight online sessions between June and October 2021. The course is divided into two parts with a summer break halfway.

Other activities

In addition to the online sessions, there will be a small amount of additional work to be undertaken outside of these sessions. This is outlined below.

What is required to participate?

While this course is suitable for applicants with a range of knowledge, experience and proposed actions, successful applicants will demonstrate an interest in supporting their community to take action on climate change. This may be through a number of factors, including demonstrating:

an interest in their local community. Either through previous experience of engagement with their community or through an interest in getting involved as a result of attending this course.
concern about climate change combined with an interest in developing and improving knowledge on this topic.
a motivation to take action on climate change. This can be from larger-scale ambitious actions (such as setting up a community energy project) down to smaller-scale actions (such as running a clothes swap with your local scout group)
a commitment to the course activities. Including both attending online sessions and the additional activities outlined above.

In order to take part in this course, applicants will need:

access to an internet connection strong enough to use the video conferencing service Zoom.
a basic knowledge of using Zoom. Please let us know if you would need training on this before taking part as we may be able to provide this.

Will you be running this course again?

We will be running this course again in 2023 for South Cambridgeshire residents. Watch this space or get in touch for updates.

Supporting community action on climate change

Supporting community action on climate change

Introducing Net Zero Skills

Following on from our hugely successful Net Zero Now training programme in South Cambridgeshire last year, Cambridge Carbon Footprint are offering the Net Zero Skills sessions to residents in and around Cambridge this March.

Net Zero Now will be returning in 2023

We are excited to announce that once again we will be offering the Net Zero Now Programme to South Cambridgeshire residents!

About Net Zero Now

Get in touch

Explore the free online training course

FAQs

Online sessions

Other activities

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