WorkforClimate Academy

A three-month course for employees motivated to accelerate their company's climate action from the inside.

Learn to create change from the inside.

12 week learning journey
6 modules packed with video lessons & application tools
Fortnightly live sessions with industry experts and peers
Peer and expert-led coaching

The WorkforClimate Academy isn't just a climate education course, it's a toolkit for action.

Do you work for a for-profit business? Are you curious about - or already active in - using your job to address the climate crisis?

Regardless of your role and seniority, this course could be for you – you don’t need to be a sustainability pro, or an executive to drive change.

Most corporate sustainability courses cover the basics of climate knowledge - the what and the why. But the Academy goes beyond that. It gives you the blueprint for corporate climate action, and shows you how to inspire and influence stakeholders at every level to get buy-in for the most meaningful initiatives that can drive real change.

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Next cohort date: April 8th to June 28th

The Academy is designed specifically for corporate sector employees who are committed to influencing their organisation to do more on climate. To ensure the course is the right fit for you we require you to complete a quick 2 minute application.

We'll take your credit card details when you apply, but you won't be charged until we approve your application.

What you’ll get from this course

An understanding of key concepts and skills to feel more confident advocating on climate at work.

Practical tools to apply your learning in real time to create actual change.

A community of likeminded peers to lean on for support and ideas (and to feel less alone).

The Curriculum

This Academy will teach you the key concepts and skills to kickstart your climate leadership, and help you drive focused and effective change in your company. The course consists of two key pillars: the Knowledge pillar that gives you a technical foundation in corporate climate action, and the Leadership pillar that gives you the core skills you need to drive change inside a large organisation. Inside each of these pillars are power-packed video lessons, accompanied by practical tools for taking what you've learned and putting it into action.

Knowledge

AKA the ‘technical-side’
1. Climate & Business
Companies as a vehicle for change
2. Energy
Going 100% renewable
3. Emissions
Committing to (and delivering on) science-aligned net-zero
4. Money
Greening company investments
5. Scope X
Decarbonising professional services
6. Advocacy
Transforming corporate lobbying and advocacy

Leadership

AKA the ‘people-side’
1. Identifying your role
Who am I as a climate changemaker?
2. Finding your allies
How do I find and collaborate with allies?
3. Engaging decision makers
How do I influence others to take climate action?
4. Leading organisational change
How can I change an organisation?
5. Leveraging stakeholder relationships
How can I leverage external forces?
6. Transforming business
How am I part of a greater transformation?

Who this course is for

You're deeply concerned about climate change. You work in a business with more than 50 employees. Your company has an opportunity to be part of the solution but needs to do more. You want to be part of making that happen.

Climate curious

You don't work in sustainability, but you are curious to see how your job can be used as a climate tool. You want to build your influencing, leadership and change management skills and apply them to climate.

Climate champions

Sustainability isn't part of your job description, but you are already recognised at work for your dedication to the cause. You are looking for a community of peers and to multiply your impact.

Sustainability pros

You already live and breathe sustainability, so the technical concepts are no secret for you. Recruiting allies, getting buy-in, influencing decision makers, and embedding sustainability across the business are your main priorities.

Next cohort date: April 8th to June 28th

The Academy is designed specifically for corporate sector employees who are committed to influencing their organisation to do more on climate. To ensure the course is the right fit for you we require you to complete a quick 2 minute application.

We'll take your credit card details when you apply, but you won't be charged until we approve your application.

Pricing

We offer two different price points, depending on your context:

$599

Company-funded participant

$199

Self-funded individual

The value of the Academy course is $2,000. We are able to offer reduced prices thanks to the generous support of our philanthropic donors. If your company is able to pay for your participation in the Academy, please pay the company-funded price. This enables us to offer the further subsidised price to those who are self-funding their learning journey.

Group discounts are available for participants employed by the same company. Please contact us for further information. If price is a barrier to your participation please contact us for support with obtaining employer funding or to enquire about our limited number of bursary places.

Not quite ready to register?

Register your interest and we'll send a sneak peek of the course content to help you see if the program is for you, and keep you up to date on when applications for future cohorts become available.

Express your interest
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“This course left me with three invaluable gifts: a humbling wake up call on the science and logistics of renewable energy, an insight into how many people are dedicated to climate action and the tools needed to influence lasting change. If you're looking for a way to maximise your climate action, this is it!”

Seán Marsh
Ethical Business Designer & Strategist

"I'd love to do this all day every day. The discussion forums feel very welcoming. The team are responsive and encouraging. I wish everyone could do the course because it’s fantastic - especially the energy awareness module, it's so great for everyone in the business to get across this."

Laura Wilson
Strategy & Sustainability manager, Specialized

Speaking with Laure & Lucy really gave me confidence that I do know a thing or two and I am having impact even though it always feels like it's not enough. Hearing from other climate intrapreneurs from some big companies was very reassuring. It enables me to feel comfortable reaching out and sharing/asking questions. The people in this space are truly the best teammates even if we are far and wide.

Holly McQueen
Environmental Impact Officer, Verdecon

“I have found the Academy has provided ideas, and insights into ways I can start from the ground up in influencing. Since starting the academy, I have run education sessions for a range of different departments in conjunction with our Sustainability Manager, seen significant change in the way that we attract and retain talent in communicating the work we are doing to reach net zero, impacted the content within onboarding of all new starters and am now seen as a point of contact outside of of Sustainability Manager for staff. Without the course, I wouldn’t have navigated my way through the organisation, or had the ideas or concepts to make change.”

Deana Martinez
Senior Customer Success Manager, Seek

Frequently asked questions

What is a cohort-based course?

A cohort-based course (CBC) is an interactive course where a group of leaners advance through the material together — in “cohorts” — with hands-on, peer-based learning at the core. Students participate, learn and collaborate together to achieve a specific outcome - in this case, the outcome would be advancing the climate agenda of their organisation, which can look very different from one learner to another.

How much time do I have to commit?

Each module includes approximately 1.5 hours of video content and reading material, plus application tools which take anywhere from half an hour to a couple of hours to complete. Allowing extra time for reflection and note-taking means you may spend around 4-6 hours over a fortnight engaging with the materials for each module. How deep you go is your choice. Once a fortnight, you are expected to attend a 90min live workshop with the rest of the cohort. And finally, there are guided conversations with two other learning partners, which are designed to be 60 minutes every fortnight.

What’s the schedule for the live sessions?

The tentative time for fortnightly live sessions is Friday at 10am AEST. Live sessions are 90min long. We will finalise the time for live sessions once we know what timezones our participants will be joining from to maximise attendance. Once registered, you’ll have the opportunity to tell us what time works best for you. The exact schedule will be confirmed one week before the course starts. If you can’t attend, parts of the sessions will be recorded and available as soon as the session concludes.

Can I take the course if I don't work for a for-profit business?

The Academy and our Learning Community exist to support employees to drive climate action inside for-profit businesses. If that does not fit your situation, we are not able to accept your registration. But don’t worry, there are other ways you can support us and the movement for corporate climate action.

Will this course help me transition into a climate job?

The Academy is a great first step towards making your job your most powerful climate tool. Previous participants have credited the Academy for helping land their dream job in sustainability/climate (see here or here).

While pivoting into a sustainability/climate role is a great career and impact pathway, this isn't your only option. At WorkforClimate, we exist to support the large majority of employees who don't work in dedicated sustainability roles to use their current day jobs for climate action at work.

If your intention is to move out of your current role into a dedicated sustainability/climate role you will likely require additional technical knowledge beyond what we provide in this course. In this case we would recommend complementing the Academy with other learning opportunities.

Do you offer scholarships?

Academy fees are significantly discounted for all participants thanks to the support of our philanthropic donors. We also offer a lower price for self-funded participants who cannot access funding from their organisation. We are also able to offer need-based discounts and scholarship places. If this is you, please get in touch with us and let’s chat.

My company is not very progressive when it comes to climate issues. Can I still participate?

Absolutely! We encourage you to apply, even if - especially if - your company is early in its climate journey. If that’s the case, you may not feel comfortable asking your company for funding and we get it. That’s why we created the self-funded price for individuals.

Can you run this course for a group of employees of the same company?

Multiple employees of the same company can take part in the Academy, and form their own sub-group within the cohort. We can provide a discount if 5 or more employees are signing-up for the same cohort, just get in touch with us. If you’d like us to run a dedicated cohort for your organisation, please contact us to discuss.

I’m not sure if I’m a changemaker; should I apply?

As Engineers Without Borders founder and inspiring changemaker George Roter says, “Everyone has changemaking in their DNA; it's just a matter of unlocking it.” We encourage everyone working in the private sector who are passionate about the climate issue and are committed to taking action to apply.

I’m not located in Australia. Can I take this course?

There are two elements to this: content and timezones. The majority of the course content is applicable no matter where in the world you work, with the exception of some technical content and examples applied to the Australian context. In these few cases, we encourage you to research what the relevant example would be in your context. The live sessions are currently scheduled to run across timezones ranging from morning in Australia to evening in USA. With enough interest from other timezones we will make alternative times available in future.

For more details, see the the FAQ above - “What’s the schedule for the live sessions?”

Will you be running more cohort programs?

Yes. We intend to launch more cohorts later this year. Yo register your interest for future cohorts here.

What if I’m not satisfied with the value of the course?

We offer a money-back guarantee with questions asked: If the Academy does not meet your expectations, and you are genuinely unhappy with the value you receive from the course, you may claim 100% money back within 2 weeks of signing-up. For your request for a refund to be granted, you will need to constructively fill out an Academy Feedback Form, explaining why the Academy was not what you expected or provide feedback on how to improve the course.

I have more questions. Who should I talk to?

Contact us and we’ll get back to you asap.

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Join our Learning Community

When you join the Academy, you'll also gain access to our free Learning Community, where you can connect with like-minded change-makers, join community events, access our resource library and more.

If you're not yet ready to join the Academy, you can still join our online Learning Community by signing up for free.

Join our free Learning Community

Join the WorkforClimate Academy

Learn the blueprint for corporate climate action and become an expert in leading positive change at work.