Climate Reality Training in Warsaw

BlueLink's Executive Editor Dr Pavel Antonov (left on the photograph) trained climate speakers in Warsaw, on May 10, 2017, as part of a team, assembled by the Climate Reality Project Europe and WWF Poland. The training workshop was designed to prepare climate communicators and bloggers for facilitating public discussions at screeneing events of a Energy aNew documentary, produced by WWF - Poland as part of a Implementation of Sustainable Development based on Socially Responsible Transformation (WZROST) project.

The documentary movie shows the risks and the benefits of implementing renewable and energy efficiency climate policy in Poland. The movie will be launched in 10 Polish and 2 European cities through screenings followed by facilitated discussions and will be supported by professional bloggers in Poland. The WZROST project is implemented by WWF Poland and co-financed by the EU LIFE programme and the Polish National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management. The main aim of the project is to raise awareness of the Polish society, including politicians, that climate policy, renewable energy is a chance for growth, not an obstacle.

This goal is in line with the strategy of the European Branch of the Climate Reality Project. The issue is very sensitive in Poland where coal power generation is a kind of tabu. With the state throwing its support for carbon industry, it is still complicated for ordinary people to have access to new, renewable-friendly technologies. That is why the European Branch of The Climate Reality Project - a initiative by former US vice-president Al Gore - held the one day training workshop in order to help future movie screeining facilitators to educate, inspire and empower local communities across Poland on renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change to accelerate transition to clean energy.

The training process offered support to screening facilitators and bloggers in:

• understanding the overall goals of the Energy aNew programme;
• gaining background information on climate policy related to Poland and the European Union - including the implementation of the Paris Agreement; and
• integrating the knowledge and messages of the Climate Reality Project into the dialogue and communications around the launch of the documentary movie (messages architecture: “We can solve climate change - We must solve climate change - We will do it together”)

Over 20 screening facilitators -  local journalists and bloggers, as well as communication officers from partner CSO and NGO groups were trained. The estimated number of the citizens to be directly reached in these communities is around 1,600 persons. Trained professional bloggers are expecected to generate a country wide social media activity reaching 900,000 persons by June 30, 2017, according to Climate Reality Project data.

The following training modules were delivered in Warsaw:

• Climate Reality presntation by Patrick X. van der Meulen about the current status and effects of the climate crisis. He did this by answering three questions: First, do we really need to change? Second, can we change to renewable energy and the final question is about our common will to change to a more sustainable world. In his presentation Patrick used unique imagery from the Al Gore slideshow presentation.
• Connecting the dots by Zsolt Bauer about the global food system and its dependency on a web of factors that are extremely vulnerable to climate change.
• A Climate answers session, where Patrick X. van der Meulen zoomed in to Leeuwarden, a town in the northern part of the Netherlands, is Cultural Capital of Europe in 2018, which wants to show the world the possibilities of a fully sustainable community. Leeuwarden is doing this with a unique model of participating civilians into the ambitions and by creating new business models. In Patrick his second presentation he will tell how they do this and what we can learn form this way of doing business.  
• Climate Policies in Europe presentation by Zsolt Bauer and WWF - Poland; and
• Developing climate stories - sharing best practices by BlueLink's Pavel Antonov. The session introduced the challenges that journalists need to engage with when telling stories that promote renewable energy and political efforts against climate change. Participants were then involved in an interactive exchange over local stories across Poland which showcase the potential of renewable energy, green economy and the possible policy solutions for climate change. They examined critically positive examples and failures in successfully promoting these to decision makers and the general public in Poland.