Our News

Total Funding Required: £21,475

Funding Received So Far: £25
Funding Still Needed: £21,450

We are seeking funding to enable the delivery of Carbon Literacy training within 25 schools in Tarija, Bolivia.

The Project

Experienced Carbon Literacy trainer Roxana Romero is working, in partnership with the Domingo Savio University and a network of local schools, to deliver the training to approximately 2500 students, aged 16-17 years old.

The project called ‘Climate Minded’ is an innovative project that addresses the climate knowledge inequality gap and broadens access for young people from vulnerable backgrounds in the global south (beginning in Bolivia) to participate in the Green Economy.

It is a three-part programme that teaches young people, aged 16-18, the essentials of climate / Carbon Literacy, green skills and more broadly about the green economy and its opportunities.

The project wants all the beneficiaries of the program to be trained in knowledge about sustainability as a way of encouraging them to become leaders and responsible citizens, as well as to address the inequality gap that exists in their communities.

We want to encourage students to empower themselves in the subject and make decisions to make their lives more sustainable, as well as learn skills that are useful in the face of poverty such as food growing, sustainable eating, and reusing as alternatives for economic resilience. Finally, it opens their minds to the variety of opportunities that the green economy will bring to the world as all countries adapt and move towards the goal of reaching zero levels of carbon emissions.

The Carbon Literacy sessions contain leadership elements so that they become communicators of climate change and share the messages within their communities.

The Impact

• It plants seeds in students’ minds to become leaders of sustainability in their lives, communities and future careers.
• It contributes to making the environmental and sustainability sector more diverse.
• It works towards ensuring a just transition for all as we move towards Net Zero target.
• Roxana notes that: “The international certification is really valued here in Bolivia.” Something which was identified during a previous, pilot student training that was funded by the Community Pot*.

Track Record of Delivery

The funding previously received from The Carbon Literacy Project’s Community Pot helped Climate Minded to deliver training to the Fe y Alegria Schools located in vulnerable áreas on the outskirts of Tarija City in Bolivia. Thanks to this support over 60 students are already Carbon Literate and received their international certification from The Carbon Literacy Project. They designed green projects for their schools and are leaders and communicators of climate change in their communities. Without the support from The Carbon Literacy Project this wouldn’t have been possible.

Funding Model

Using our Global South Conversion Tool – a tool of our own devising which takes into account GDP, alongside currency conversion – we’ve calculated that an equitable equivalent price for a Carbon Literacy certificate application in Bolivia is £1.41 (11.38 BOB). As such, this means that the project will self-fund £3,525 towards the total cost (£25,000) of their Carbon Literacy certification.

However, as The Carbon Literacy Project is based in the UK, and so brings with it the associated costs of being based in the UK, we require external support to operate at scale in the global south. As a certificate application is priced at £10, we are seeking the ‘top-up’ funding to make up the difference between the true cost and the equitable cost of this project, to enable it to go forward.

Organisations funding this project would be eligible for the Carbon Literacy Partner Scheme and associated benefits.

If you, your organisation or someone you know might be able to help fund this project, please get in touch at giving@carbonliteracy.com

*The Community Pot is a pot of funding that larger organisations pay into as part of their certification fees. This pot then enables The Carbon Literacy Project to support catalytic training for disadvantaged and community groups with little to no funding. More on this pot of funding is to be announced in late 2023 (date TBC).