Royston Case Study

The Church of England has produced a “Carbon Literacy for Congregations” course which is accredited by the Carbon Literacy Project. Having undertaken the C of E Carbon Literacy course when it was run by the Diocese towards the end of 2023, Clare Davies, the Chair of the Sustainable Living Committee of Royston Parish Church and Steven Sivyer, Vicar of Royston, pledged to run the version for congregations as a Lent Course, which they did this year. They had 20 people sign up to take this course and positive feedback was received.

Through this course, two people have made it their group pledges (following in the footsteps of Clare and Steven) to run this course for others who were unable to attend the dates and times of the Lent Course, as well as inviting participants from other churches in Royston.

This has now resulted in a self-perpetuating focus on the reduction of the carbon footprint within the church family. The church also has produced ready-made PowerPoints and materials which they are happy to share should other churches wish to use these.

More about the course

Carbon Literacy Courses are normally delivered over the course of a full-day, but the material for was adapted for Royston so that it could be delivered over five-six weeks, with sessions lasting one and a half hours each*. Participants calculate their carbon footprint early on in the course and then they learn about a number of aspects that contribute towards their footprint, with a mixture of videos, handouts, quizzes, games and group discussions.

*There is some material to be covered, mainly by the watching of a David Attenborough documentary, ahead of the course, and this was covered as “Week 0” to make it a six-week course.

The aim of the course is not just to educate but to make a real difference to the environment through participants making two pledges, a personal pledge and a group pledge (a pledge that involves others) with meaningful actions to reduce their carbon footprints.

The poster that Royston Parish Church used to advertise the course can be seen below.