Do you want to see a greener, healthier Northern Ireland and make sure your livelihood thrives in the sustainability-focused future?  

Consider using our biggest strength - community - by creating or joining a zero-carbon cooperative in your local area. We all want to do our part to prevent climate change and leave the land in a good condition for the next generation whilst also supporting ourselves now. We can achieve this together with our neighbours.  

A zero-carbon cooperative is a partnership of local people, industry, business, and farmers. The aim of a zero-carbon cooperative is to create a zero-carbon community. Zero-carbon means that all carbon emitted by the community is reabsorbed and all waste is reused so there is no need for external resources (e.g. fertilisers). What form this takes depends on the needs and wants of your local area and the unique industries, farms, and people within it. The real value of zero-carbon cooperatives is the intelligent cross community linking of individuals and organisations. This can include linking producers of renewable fuel or energy with those who can use it to run machinery and producers of waste with those who are able to repurpose it.

Of course, all of this is only possible when we have a solid grouding of knowledge and the abilty to implement that knowledge through innovation. Queen's University Belfast has begun to pull together a package of training in core fundamentals of Net-Zero and innovation training to implement new technologies, create new business or collaboate in a cooperative.