Climate Change Condensed

This is a highly interactive 3-hour workshop using videos of expert 'guides' and lots of interactive groups. This worskshop alows you to really explore these issues in groups and pairs led by expert guides and a faciliator:

the science of climate change
the impacts on human beings
the scientific consensus and climate denial
how should the 'carbon budget' be divided up?
what will the low carbon world look like?

Strategies for Trade Unionists: What should the TU movement be going for in negotiations? How should the movement respond to a low carbon future? How can Trade Unionists obtain the benefit of the low carbon future?

'How to win the climate change argument in a 15 minute tea break'

This course is a 3 hour high-speed workshop for people in the Trade Union movement who want to convince colleagues - and never want to lose a climate change argument again! It contains:

irritating arguments - responding to all the main arguments for inaction or denial
why do we want to 'win' anyway?
why peer-to-peer conversations are the most effective
dealing with people's denial strategies
how much science do we really need to know?
audiences - four types of audience and what kind of arguments can win them around to action

Communicating Climate Change

This is full day course for activists, reps, branch secretaries, full time officers - anyone who is trying to engage members in this issue. The courses is highly interactive, like all COIN's courses. We work on:

why people don't want to engage with climate change
what kind of themes can be used to engage the TU movement
listening to members
responding to the emotional impact of climate change
active listening
speaking about climate change
what does not work when raising climate change!
what the research says about engaging people on climate change
social justice issues in the context of climate change
can we fight for changes in fundamental values?

Speaker Training

There are two trainings available - 4 or 6 hours long. Although you may well be extremely experienced in public speaking - climate change is different. These courses train you to speak about the science and impacts of climate change. The exercises train you to respond to scepticism and evasion. Exercises cover: engaging the audience, mvoing people, managing discussions and responding to fears about the conseuences of climate change. You are trained also to help your audience look for the positive social justice vision in climate change. This courses are for experienced and inexperienced activists, reps, and officials.

Trainers

COIN is looking for TU trainers to present these courses (please contact tim@coinet.org.uk if you are an active trade unionist and interested in presenting and developing these courses).

They are currently presented by Tim Baster. Tim has been an active trade unionist for many years. He was involved in the Building Workers Rank and File Movement fighting against labour only sub-contracting and appalling health and safety standards in the 1970s and 80s. He was a NUPE steward in the 1980s defending direct labour in Westminster City Council at the time of Shirley Porter's period of power. In the 1990s he was the Chair of the reps committee in the Refugee Legal Centre the (then) main provider of free legal representation for asylum seekers appealing against a refusal to grant asylum.