Who do we exclude when we offer climate & sustainability training and engagement for citizens? Especially when many popular programmes – the Climate Fresk, or Carbon Literacy Training accredited by The Carbon Literacy Project or the many Collages and gamified tools out there – depend on interaction, critical thinking, and linking impacts to behaviours?
Scott Howes, Strategic Lead-Climate Action Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, has developed climate training for people with learning disabilities in collaboration with Positive Futures. The “bingo-style” training uses with pictures of ideas for tackling the issue instead of numbers, and apparently it’s helping more people see their role in the story of climate change, so that they can choose to take actions, however small.
I am not trying to pretend that individual actions are all that’s needed (and yes, I know that many prefer to only focus on systemic change), and yet I feel that knowing that you are part of a bigger picture, that YOU can do something that could contribute to co-creating hopeful, sustainable futures is powerful.
And I love that this climate training tool seeks to make climate change and climate action accessible.
But when you play with pictures of ideas for tackling the issue instead of numbers, it can help people like Patrick and Michael McKinney understand how they can make a difference.
