Keep Scotland Beautiful is your charity for Scotland's environment, with a vision for a clean, green, sustainable Scotland. We work with you to combat climate change, reduce litter and waste and protect and enhance the places we care for.

We have been delivering climate education to Scottish school students since 2019. We recently announced a new framework called Climate Action Schools, to put climate change firmly on the agenda for educators, young people and children in Scotland. Our Climate Emergency Training course builds on this experience and provides a way for students to gain a greater understanding of climate change and its surrounding issues.

Whilst delivering our pre-existing climate change course (Climate Ready Classrooms) we noticed there was no SQA accredited course specifically aimed at improving climate change understanding and empowering learners to take positive steps towards combatting climate change. We know that there is a student voice demanding more climate education and knowledge, and our Climate Emergency Training is the first national course to meet this need.

The Climate Emergency Training SCQF level 4 course is aimed at secondary school pupils looking to develop their knowledge of climate change and understand what positive decisions they can take to address the causes of climate change. The course includes a notional 20 hours of learning, activities, and assessment. It covers four main points:

• The causes of climate change.
  
  
• The evidence behind climate change. 
  
  
• The physical and social effects of climate change.
   
• The actions we can take to reduce the impact of climate change.
  
  

Material is jointly delivered by the class teacher and a Keep Scotland Beautiful trainer, who additionally marks all the assessed work, ensuring consistency.

Students completing the course gain two SCQF credit points, highlighting the accessibility of the course whilst also demonstrating the work required for students to gain this accreditation.  Alongside giving them confidence that they will complete the course, the credits will also emphasise that students who learn with us will have a knowledge of the actions they can take to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions alongside an understanding of why these actions are important and how they result in an emission reduction. 

It presents positive opportunities for young people to grasp the opportunities around the climate emergency and the skills that will be required within the private and public sector.

More than 20 people have successfully completed the course so far, having only been piloted this year, but we hope it becomes the go-to course for Scottish secondary school students who want to make a positive contribution to combatting climate change.

"The course is a perfect way to not only open up positive conversation amongst colleagues, but also for individuals to consider facts and how even small adjustments in behaviors towards climate change can have an impact on the effect. Very enjoyable and would recommend to any school or employer as an introduction to climate ideas in the workplace without the dogma."

Annie Rodgers, Course participant

We believe this course is one of the best ways learners can identify what they can do personally and collectively to combat climate change. 

You can find out more at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/climateready