As LEAD Associate you will be required to develop and undertake a practical and action-oriented group project with other participants. This is to help you link your new knowledge and skills with your professional work.
You choose your theme when you start your training and receive continuous feedback through structured discussions with peers and staff throughout your programme.
You will be fully supported by LEAD Europe’s team, other Associates, and Fellows.
Previous LEAD Associate Projects (LAPs)
Art, Communication and Climate Change
- “Government policies and new technologies will not in themselves be sufficient to address the challenges of climate change. Changes in individual and societal values, perhaps even a new spirituality, are also necessary. The objectives of this project were: to find a creative and fun way (or ways) to allow people to use art as a means of explaining and communicating climate change for themselves, and envisioning what the future might look like; and to engage a wider public (i.e. beyond environmentalists and climate change professionals) in identifying what the climate change story means for them as individuals. Accessibility and inclusiveness were central concerns running through the project. The aim was to explore how people of all backgrounds can use art to help themselves to think about climate change.” This project has continued to develop following the LAP group participants graduating and becoming LEAD Fellows. They are in talks with a major Art’s body to put on a display of their work.
Beyond GDP: Restructuring our Ideas about Sustainable Growth
- “Economic growth is just one strategy to achieve well-being and, in terms of natural resources, a demonstrably inefficient one. At present individual companies and entire countries strive for indefinite growth. Rather than pursuing growth at all costs, even if detrimental to well-being or sustainability, leaders should be striving to foster well-being and pursue sustainability. Times of crisis are times of opportunity. The myth of economic growth as progress has held sway for over half a century. But now, stimulated by the ongoing economic crisis and impending environmental and resource crises, alternative visions of progress, are gaining popularity. They are still not the dominant view, but the tipping point may not be far off. Now is the time for societies around the world to speak out for sustainable ways of life, to identify a new vision of progress, and to demand new tools to help us work towards it.” This project is ongoing and became the focus of dynamic discussion among LEAD Associates from all over the world during the 2009 LEAD International Session in Beijing.
Voices of the Vulnerable: A North-South dialogue on EU Adaptation Policy
- This project aim was to create an opportunity for a dialogue between selected leaders from developing countries (from community level up to national political level) that are in particular affected by impacts of unavoidable climate change and of those communities and countries that are the most vulnerable. Vulnerability should be seen in both poverty terms as well as not having the capacity to adapt (financial and human resources and available technology). The dialogue partners were political, business and civil society leaders from the EU, in particular those who participate in policy making of the EU white paper on “Adapting to climate change” or those having an interest in influencing this process. This project involved Fellows from LEAD’s global network and has continued to develop following the LAP group participants graduating and becoming LEAD Fellows. They are in the process of developing a website to house the interviews they recorded as part of their project.
Sarah Hendel-Blackford, Voices of the Vulnerable: Preventing Adaptation Apartheid
Tackling a Rock Solid Problem!
- “Cavity wall insulation is a relatively inexpensive method of improving the energy efficiency of your home, thereby reducing your fuel bills and carbon emissions. However, many UK householders live in properties that do not have cavity walls. Alternative insulation methods are currently expensive and far more technically difficult to install. This means that although the houses may often be beautiful, they are more expensive to heat and a significant source of carbon emissions. This project explored potential solutions to this challenging problem and presented a series of recommendations with the intention of invigorating action in this neglected area of work.“ This project has continued to develop following the LAP group participants graduating and becoming LEAD Fellows. They are in the process of creating a website to encourage an interactive dialogue around the insulation challenges posed by solid walls, and how they can be overcome.
Cypriot children’s understanding of climate change: an action-oriented project
“Education is an essential tool for tackling climate change, thus educating children about climate change is an imperative. Education for Sustainability is a relatively new component in the Cyprus National Curriculum. This project was about getting the children from a rural primary school aged 10 involved, teaching them about climate change and being agents of change. A range of resources, including videos, stories, games, outdoor activities and worksheet-based activities are being employed in teaching and the project will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to link various areas within the National Curriculum. The project will provide information on the issues and potential impacts of climate change locally and globally, and will support child-led adaptation strategy development under action and make children’s voice heard by educators, parents and policy-makers. Additionally, the project aimed to develop a comprehensive teaching toolkit and as series of lesson plans that will elevate children’s knowledge on climate change and spur dialogue about what each of us can do in every-day life to make a difference, available to colleagues and ready to be implemented in practice.” This project has continued to develop following the LAP group participants graduating and becoming LEAD Fellows. The project findings were communicated to an international audience at the 5th World Environmental Education Conference: Montreal, Canada, in May 2009 and have led to discussions for partnership projects in Australia.
Green Dreams and Reality
“We need to make sustainable development more attractive and inspiring to make young people dream about what they could do for a better world, and to mobilize them towards some positive actions leading to sustainable development. Young people are more and more aware about environmental and equity issues – often with some very negative messages about a grim future, and/ or with abstract data not related to real lives, people and nature – but don’t always have access to resources about the possible solutions, or about lively success stories that can lead to some more positive actions and personal achievements. The main goal of this project is to collect inspiring stories and photographs from the LEAD fellows across the world, and to select the most influential stories to make a book that can then be used to raise awareness on sustainable development, specifically among young students.” This project has sourced success stories from the global network of LEAD Fellows and published them online through a purpose-built website. Work to further develop the library of material and raise awareness about application of this resource in an educational context is ongoing. Please visit www.gdrealities.com for further information.
From Mapping Conflict to Mapping Peace: A Case Study on Water
- This project aims to build on lessons learned with regards to mapping peace as opposed to mapping conflict. It opted to start with a general analysis of the problem of water shortages throughout the world. This will include an analysis of the history of water shortage and the impacts of climate change. The second layer of research will focus on Africa and will place a strong emphasis on ‘mapping peace’. It will examine the conflict in Darfur and how access to water is linked to this conflict.
Development of a framework to introduce sustainability to pupils aged 16‐20 years
- In this project a framework will be developed in cooperation with students in the age between 16 & 20, helping teachers of pupils with the same age group (age 16‐20) to introduce the complex idea of sustainability in a simple and understandable way, and challenging the pupils to contribute to sustainable development on the level of their personal possibilities. It will be used as a “skeleton” for a series of school lessons (90 min.) creating awareness for the concept of sustainable development and stimulating participation in personal change.
Personal Carbon Allowance: Stakeholder Engagement Activity Within a Particular Sector
- The objective of the project is to undertake a stakeholder engagement activity which will involve developing and testing a model for carbon emissions monitoring and trading. The intention is to develop a system to monitor and trade carbon emissions within a particular sector, such as aviation.
Mapping Engagement of the UK Government in Brazil and Assessment of this Engagement from a Sustainable Development Perspective
- The UK‐Brazil High Level Dialogue on Sustainable Development was signed in March 2006. This project will seek to engage a number of other Government Departments (OGDs) to find out about their existing work with Brazil and to assess whether this is contributing to the aim of placing sustainability at the core of the UK’s relationship with Brazil.
Training for Community; Leaders in Azerbaijan
- To create an idea of Sustainable Development in local communities and to achieve leadership skills through the use of Regional NGOs and Resource and Training centres in the region.
Recruitment Of Supporters From Non‐Traditional Sources ‐ An RSPB Case Of Leadership
- An ‘Aren’t Birds Brilliants’ video to document lessons learned and potential for replication elsewhere within the BirdLife Partnership.