News & Media

5th July 2022

2050 MARITIME INNOVATION HUB LAUNCHES A UNIQUE CARBON LITERACY L&D TOOLKIT FOR THE PORT SECTOR

Port of Tyne will create through its 2050 Maritime Innovation Hub and in collaboration with other UK and international ports the first ever Carbon Literacy toolkit for the port sector.

This will be a unique and tailored learning and development (L&D) toolkit which will improve carbon literacy levels among employees.

This toolkit is the first of its kind for the port industry and will be implemented to support L&D initiatives as part of the Tyne 2050 strategy objectives to improve awareness of climate change and carbon literacy within the port sector.

Working in partnership with the Carbon Literacy Trust and when ready, the toolkit is to be made available as an industry wide educational resource to benefit other UK and international ports that aim to inspire a change of culture and process within the port industry.

Focusing on port collaboration within the UK and internationally, the 2050 Maritime Innovation Hub will host a series of virtual sprints starting from September with the aim of developing the port specific toolkit. The Port of Tyne in collaboration with the Carbon Literacy Trust launched the project through a Q&A virtual session held by the 2050 Maritime Innovation Hub on 1 July 2022.

What the Carbon Literacy toolkit offers ports

Based on the Carbon Literacy Project blueprint, the new Carbon Literacy for Ports toolkit will offer a day’s worth of maritime specific learning, covering climate change, carbon footprints, how port employees can do their bit and how carbon literacy differs among stakeholders.

Rather than adopt a set approach that may not be relevant for every sector, Carbon Literacy for Ports will offer a framework designed to leave delegates fully equipped with ideas on how to change the way they work and live. It is tailored for people working in the port sector and will be delivered as a one day workshop that participants themselves devise, based on their own organisation’s sustainability targets.

The workshop will focus on achieving 4 key learning objectives: 1) developing a greater understanding of climate change; 2) reducing carbon in ports; 3) increasing influence; and 4) creating an action plan.

Carbon Literacy Project

The Carbon Literacy Project is globally unique and was recognised as such by the UN at COP21 in Paris, where it was awarded a TAP100 accreditation, one of just 100 worldwide Transformative Action Programs. As a movement, Carbon Literacy (CL) is aimed at three distinct audiences – those that live, those that work and those that study.

The first initiative launched to focus on the ports and maritime sector, Port of Tyne’s toolkit will reach two of these key audiences and is expected to make a significant contribution to improving environmental sustainability and awareness within the maritime community. It will be accredited for use among ports by the Carbon Literacy Project.

“There are so many compelling reasons why the Carbon Literacy for Ports toolkit is important – from helping to minimise the impact of port operations on our planet, to offering very practical ways to becoming more financially and environmentally efficient as businesses,” says Eleni Bougioukou, Innovation Manager for Energy and Sustainability at the Port of Tyne. “Our collaborative toolkit will be designed to change perceptions about what climate change is and to ensure that everyone working in the port sector operates with reducing the carbon footprint at the forefront of their minds.”

To learn more about the Carbon Literacy toolkit for the port sector and the virtual sprints, please get in touch with Eleni Bougioukou: eleni.bougioukou@portoftyne.co.uk