Stepping Up to Environmental Leadership |
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Promotional materials
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The Stepping Up to Environmental Leadership Project promises to combine the best of leadership and renewable technology training. The initiative builds on the unfolding USAID-sponsored Sustainability Commons project which is about promoting accessibility to examples of and information about useful, environmentally friendly practices like converting to clean energy.
The Stepping Up to Environmental Leadership Project aims to give 20 young, interested and dynamic Capetonians the opportunity to gain in- depth knowledge of ’technologies’ such as sunstoves, Photo-Voltaic panels, inverters, composting systems, rainwater harvesting, passive lighting systems, grey water use and artificial wetlands.
The leadership development aspect of the project will make use of effective current models and theories. It will introduce participants to the skills of motivation, conflict management, mindfulness, systems thinking, communication, ethics and values, mediation and community building.
Such capacity will be needed because part of the project is about taking a specific “gadget” or sustainable technology to a community site of their choice be it school, clinic, library, old age home or similar, mustering local support and interest and fielding questions. Overcoming prejudice against new ways of solving old problems and weaning people off absolute dependence on municipalities and big utilities is one of the objectives.
Through this project WESSA hopes to add value and join in the response to national priorities such as the development of stronger biodiversity leadership skills, highlighted in the Environmental Sector Skills Plan (ESSP 2010) and the Biodiversity Human Capital Development Strategy (BHCDS 2010).
For more information on the WESSA/DGMT Stepping Up to Environmental Leadership Project, please contact Phindile Mangwana, Tel: 021 701 1397 Ext 207 or e-mail: phindile@wessa.co.za
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Stepping Up to Environmental Leadership Application form
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In addition to conceptual training there will be a significant hands-on component where participants will work with small businesses and individuals who are actually involved in the sustainable technologies arena either as a hobby or for a livelihood. Then there is the leadership component, which aims at developing ‘the soft skills’ and how to apply these bearing in mind the sustainability concepts and theories covered in the programmme.
The Stepping up to Environmental Leadership project is supported by the DG Murray Trust and implemented by the Western Cape region of WESSA. While it is not formally accredited, the course will borrow elements from registered accredited courses developed by WESSA which is itself an accredited education and training service provider.
Call for applications WESSA stepping up programme final (2) (