Future climate leaders attend Warwick’s Sustainability Training Academy in Venice

Future climate leaders attended Warwick’s Sustainability Training Academy (STA) in Venice from 30 March to 5 April 2025, aimed at equipping them with the necessary tools for successful environmental action.

Focusing on the advancement of interdisciplinary research, the STA intends to ensure activists and leaders are able to combat the challenges caused by climate change.

In 2025, the STA discussed topics such as climate resilience and “just transitions”, which served to promote equality and fairness in sustainable settings.

Through skills developed at the academy, attendees will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained to real-world settings. This emphasises the STA’s commitment to enlightening future climate leaders by not only providing insight into the challenges of climate breakdown, but by developing interdisciplinary skills.

Previous events such as COP29 were also integrated into the STA to further engage attendees with climate challenges from different perspectives. COP29 provided insights into different methods of enhancing sectors including food systems and energy.

The STA’s attendees come from a diverse range of academic backgrounds, such as economics, environmental sciences, sociology, and anthropology. This allows for more varied perspectives in finding solutions to climate challenges.

This is such an important initiative for Warwick: it makes the University so central to shaping more sustainable futures

Prof. Elena Korosteleva, Sustainability Training School Founder

On the third day of the programme, attendees were provided with a creative skills workshop hosted by Dr Harriet Richmond, which inspired attendees to find unique approaches towards climate challenges.

The following day, attendees were given complex tasks such as ‘Designing Resilient Systems for Alternative Futures’, designed to further develop their critical thinking skills for a rapidly changing industry.

Prof. Elena Korosteleva, the founder of the Sustainability Training School and IGSD Director, commented: “This is such an important initiative for Warwick: it makes the University so central to shaping more sustainable futures, and raising the next generation of global leaders conscious of climate challenges we all face.”

A crucial part of the STA was the group presentations which took place on the seventh day of the event, for which attendees had only six days to prepare. The presentations assisted in developing further interdisciplinary skills and reinforcing the knowledge gained from their time in Venice.

As part of the STA, participants are also able to explore how to bridge environmental theory with practical application through field-based experiences in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and India.

These hands-on experiences showcased cutting-edge research into mitigating the consequences of climate change, allowing attendees to learn from local innovative efforts and engage in meaningful discussions to prepare for future challenges.