NTU’s Carbon Literacy Training shortlisted for global sustainability award

Nottingham Trent University’s Carbon Literacy Training for Educators, Communities, Organizations and Students (CLT-ECOS) has been nominated in the Sustainability category of the Wharton-QS Reimagine Education Awards.

Man in front of a board with sustainability logos

The training aims to create responsible business leaders

The training is one of just 12% of 1,100 global submissions to be shortlisted in the awards, which reward innovative approaches that enhance student learning outcomes and employability.

CLT-ECOS is a virtual programme which encompasses both Nottingham Business School’s Carbon Literacy Training for Business Schools and NTU’s wider programme for universities.

It was developed by Professor Petra Molthan-Hill and NTU’s Green Academy, with involvement from internal and external sustainability experts, and distributed in collaboration with the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) Working Group on Climate Change and Environment.

PRME is an initiative of the United Nations Global Compact and is currently a network of more than 860 business and management-related higher education institutions committed to implementing sustainability into curriculum, research and partnerships. Nottingham Business School is a 2020-2021 PRME Champion, which recognises its commitment to developing responsible leaders.

As part of the training, learners explore high impact climate solutions, climate justice and climate science before devising significant actions for themselves, their institutions, partners, colleagues or/and fellow students.

Both trainings follow a train-the trainer approach where participants are given the tools and materials to lead workshops in their own institutions.

Overall, the CLT-ECOS has reached more than 10,000 individuals from 76 nations on all continents, 240 universities/business schools and 64 organisations. Participants have included academics and university staff, business professionals, NGO representatives and students from across the world.

The training has also been used as part of global social movement organised and facilitated by PRME ahead of COP26, which encouraged business schools to use it within their own institutions in the lead up to, and during, the conference period.

Petra Molthan-Hill, Professor of Sustainable Management and Education for Sustainable Development at Nottingham Business School, said “As people learn that climate change is anthropogenic, they realise they hold the key to mitigating it by embedding the right high-impact climate solutions and institutional policies addressing all SDGs and creating economic, social and environmental benefits. Addressing this gap in the provision of climate change mitigation education, our training empowers people to embed high-impact climate solutions in their personal, professional and community life.”

Commenting on the nomination, the Awards’ Steering Committee said: "The Reimagine Education Awards are designed to provide reliable, robust signals to the education sector regarding the quality of teaching and learning across the world’s universities – and those edtech solutions that have most successfully demonstrated their efficacy, uniqueness, and scalability.

“The Reimagine Education Steering Committee is delighted to announce that Carbon Literacy Training for Educators, Communities, Organisations and Students (CLT-ECOS) has been shortlisted for the Reimagine Education Sustainability Education Award. The judging panel – made of over 300 independent experts from 45 countries – commends Nottingham Business School and NTU for creating a training program encouraging policies designed to enhance institutional sustainability from an environmental, social, and economic sustainability perspective by empowering people to embed high-impact climate solutions in their personal, professional and community life.''

The training will now be showcased at the virtual Reimagine Education Conference in December and the global winners will be announced on 10 December at a live Reimagine Education Awards Ceremony.

In 2017, Dr Petra Molthan-Hill and Dr Rachel Welton, Nottingham Business School, were inspired to design CLT-ECOS after their research project with the British television production 'Coronation Street', evaluating the effectiveness of carbon literacy training on the television unit’s staff and its impact at an organisational level. Dan Jackson, former senior production manager at Coronation Street and the driver behind its Carbon Literacy Training, and Vanessa Odell from the NTU Green Academy supported the design of CLT-ECOS, further credit goes to Dr Alex Mifsud, who supported the transition to the virtual delivery while working for NTU.

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About Nottingham Trent University
Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was named University of the Year 2019 in the Guardian University Awards. The award was based on performance and improvement in the Guardian University Guide, retention of students from low-participation areas and attainment of BME students.
NTU was also the Times Higher Education University of the Year 2017, and The Times and Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience.
It is one of the largest UK universities. With over 37,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University injects £1.6bn into the UK economy. It has been the largest recruiter of UK undergraduates in each of the last four years. With an international student population of more than 6,000 and an NTU community representing around 160 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook.
The university is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable NTU to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was awarded University of the Year in the UK Social Mobility Awards 2019.