Background
Urban&Civic are the UK’s leading Master Developer, mainly focusing on large-scale development of otherwise unused sites across the UK. They have been operating for over 11 years, and employ more than 100 workers and a EPRA NTA valuation of £514.8m.
Urban&Civic already has impressive sustainability credentials. Historically, however, the nature of their work meant that environmental challenges had been dealt with on individual projects as and when the need arose. The need to create a more unified and proactive approach was identified and in summer 2021, they approached Groundwork to explore ways of joining up their work further, to help develop a more democratic and grass-roots methodology.
Carbon Literacy: A great starting point
Our first suggestion was to undertake Carbon Literacy training, to upskill their organisation and ensure buy-in at all levels. The aim was to help establish a base-line of understanding on the topic in their workforce across all teams and departments as we further explore piecing together a wider suite of work help continue their journey towards Net Zero.
Working closely with the leadership team, Groundwork developed a bespoke Carbon Literacy course for employees of Urban&Civic. The course covered a wide range of topics, from climate science, to the specific challenges of reducing carbon emissions in the built environment as well as the opportunities for reductions within Urban&Civic’s operations.
Delivering Carbon Literacy Training
Training began in winter 2021 and by April 2022, over 40% of their employees were certified as Carbon Literate.
As part of this training, each delegate made pledges to take action within their workplace leading to reductions in their work-based emissions of up to 15% per individual.
Collecting feedback on the course, trainees called the sessions “eye-opening”, and “interesting and thought-provoking”. Further feedback acknowledged that the course was “full of up to date information and was very well presented which made it easy to follow and understand”.
