The Shropshire Chamber of Commerce is running a UKSPF Upskilling Programme fully funded by the UK’s Shared Prosperity Fund. This programme provides a number of courses that Small to Medium Enterprises, based in the Shropshire Council Local Authority area, can access to upskill their workforce to increase productivity and grow. Please note that charities are not eligible.
We are delighted and excited to announce that we have been selected to support this programme with Carbon Literacy for Small to Medium-Sized businesses. We have had great experience in working with all sorts of companies of all different sizes, so will give help that is relevant and practical.
Why Carbon Literacy for SMEs?
Small to Medium-sized businesses face major challenges. Alongside the problems with inflation, recession and day-to-day business, they need to create a carbon-neutral business.
More and more customers will demand an assurance that suppliers are qualified to provide products and services which can be classified as “Carbon Neutral”. Investors will want assurances that their investments are “carbon-neutral”. They will do this because their ESG (environmental, social, and governance) strategy and policies demand social responsibility.
Take a look at this Dragons’ Den episode from BBC TV, and in particular Deborah Meaden’s questions to get a flavour of the problems you might face:
Your company also may need to report to the government on their status as a carbon-neutral organisation – including a calculation of their emissions, classified by Scope 1 (their own), Scope 2 (what they buy in) and Scope 3 (anything along their total supply chain).
However, there are major opportunities for businesses to take part in the revolution presented by the green economy. Using renewable energy can make major savings on costs. Changing products and services to make them more eco-friendly can be cost-saving (reuse/recycle/repair). Getting involved in the new technologies of air-source heat pumps, house retrofitting, electric vehicles and so on can expand business horizons. Eliminating waste across your supply chain will give your company a competitive edge.
Carbon Literacy
The “Carbon Literacy Project” is an organisation based in Manchester which believes in helping people understand all the jargon, and the new thinking behind “Climate Change” to help everyone take the right action for them. They provide training material to trainers, like “Save Our Shropshire”, to deliver to organisations and people.
Core to their training is to provide certificates to individuals and organisations who complete the training or a training programme. This is done based on a simple assessment that forms part of the training that requires learners to pledge two activities on their return, that will turn the learning into action.
They also grade organisations, that get engaged in low-carbon activities, in terms of their knowledge and commitment. The grading goes from bronze to platinum. Save Our Shropshire has been accredited as a Platinum-level organisation.
The material produced by the Carbon Literacy Project has been extensively researched by reference to well-respected organisations like Manchester Metropolitan University and Centre for Alternative Technology so that you can get the best up-to-date advice and help in this complex area.
Click on the following button to find out more about the Carbon Literacy Project:
Your organisation can become a Carbon Literate organisation. All of this support will enable you to assure customers, suppliers and investors that you know what you are talking about. You can also feel confident in talking with authority to others about things like “carbon footprints” and “Scope1,2,3” to help others follow your lead.
So far over 88,000 citizens have already been certified Carbon Literate and over 4,000 organisations have engaged with the Carbon Literacy Organisation in many different sectors.
What is in this course?
This course will give you and your company the knowledge and tools to get you started on a journey towards making your company fit for the future. No previous environmental understanding is needed. Getting the certificate from the Carbon Literacy Project will give credibility to individuals and your organisation.
Carbon Literacy is defined as: “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.”
The course will help you cut through the jargon around the “Net Zero” agenda and give you practical advice on how to begin to measure and reduce your emissions. Specifically, we will provide a glimpse into the basic science, and help you identify your situation by calculating your carbon footprint. It’s like getting on a weigh scale to find out if you are too heavy.
The course will then take you through the key areas of Energy, Travel, Items you purchase, and your buildings, and illustrate with practical examples how you can reduce your carbon footprint. We will show how this will reduce cost, and advise, where investment is required, how to get funding to support your business through schemes like LoCOP and ESOS, or share schemes. We will explain areas like Scope 1,2,3, and explain what you need to do to improve your reporting in your annual returns. We will demystify it all!
The course will also encourage you to take practical actions and prepare you for your Carbon Literacy assessment. You will find ways to reduce costs, create new business opportunities, and reduce the risks from customers wanting you to become more “environmentally friendly”.
We recognise that the Climate Crisis is a big and possibly overwhelming topic. We know you are busy people. Hence we engage participants in a fun, direct and interactive course, and after just one day we will leave you feeling more knowledgeable, empowered and inspired to take action as soon as you get back.
What will you learn?
By the end of the course, you will:
- Understand and be able to explain the science around climate change and how it affects us globally and locally
- Understand the need for urgency
- Understand the UK targets and the current progress against them
- Have the tools and knowledge to reduce the carbon impact of your business
- Start collaboration with customers, suppliers and like-minded people
- See how to save money, and increase business opportunities through innovation.
- Create your climate pledges to take action on climate change
- Know how to get a Carbon Literacy Project certificate.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and places, supporting local businesses, and people and skills. For more information, visit UK Shared Prosperity Fund: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus
Training will be delivered in association with the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce on the following dates and locations:
Shrewsbury 19th June 2024
Oswestry 11th July 2024
and later in the year:
Bridgnorth, Bishop’s Castle, Market Drayton, Ludlow, Church Stretton, Whitchurch
Note you are only allowed two people from your company to take advantage of all the courses being offered by the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce under the UK shared prosperity fund.
1. Book
Fill in the following form to book via the Shropshire Chamber of Commerce:
2. Get information
Fill in the following form to express an interest in the course or get further information from Save Our Shropshire:
