APPLY: Join our Regional Women's Faith Leader Environmental Advocacy Training (FLEAT) II in Johannesburg - 7 to 9 November 2023

SAFCEI will be hosting the first workshop for our second cohort of Regional Women in Southern and East Africa: Regional Women's Faith Leader Environmental Advocacy Training (FLEAT) II in Johannesburg. The first workshop will take place in Johannesburg from 7 to 9 November 2023, and we are currently accepting applications to join this new training opportunity.

We are specifically looking for individuals of faith residing in Southern and East Africa, particularly those in leadership positions within their faith institutions or actively engaged in leadership roles within their communities, who have a passion for environmental issues, want to expand their network to amplify their efforts, and can commit to a series of training workshops.

Regional Women's FLEAT II aims to bring together a diverse new group of faith leaders from across Southern and East Africa to foster faith-led eco-justice. During the workshop, we will address crucial topics such as water, land, biodiversity, gender, food, energy, and climate justice. You will have the opportunity to explore ethical actions for your faith community.

The training will allow participants to gain knowledge on alternative energy and be encouraged to introduce solar to their respective congregations, strengthen their knowledge of the food systems and indigenous foods to encourage the sustainable consumption of nutritious and healthy food, and the sourcing of healthy local food.

If you have not attended a FLEAT before, and would like to expand your knowledge on eco- and climate justice, we encourage you to apply. By joining us, you will become part of our existing network of environmentally conscious faith leaders from Zambia and the surrounding region, all committed to taking collective action.

Eco-justice advocacy includes:

• Sharing challenges and inspiring stories with other faith communities to encourage them to take similar actions and share their stories
• Campaigning and advocacy on policies that affect faith communities and the environment
• Planning for campaigns and local ethical actions in faith communities that demonstrate a way of living that restores rather than destroys nature and the human community.

Please keep in mind that this training will be conducted in-person from 08:30 to 17:00 over three days. SAFCEI will provide accommodation, meals, and transport to selected participants. When applying, kindly indicate if you or your faith organization can assist with transportation, either partially or in full.

This workshop will involve a process of sharing and designing an advocacy plan collectively with input from various advocacy specialists. Practical ethical eco-action will be part of the plans created. Refer to the video to see what you can expect from previous training.

Participants will be able to take experiences from the workshops and apply them in their faith communities between training sessions.

Participants are expected to work together on advocacy actions both in their own countries and in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and commit to attending six SAFCEI workshops over the next three years.

To be part of this training, you will need to allocate your time to advocacy work and have a passion for addressing environmental justice.

Please complete the application form and your letter of motivation, together with a letter of support/recommendation from your faith leader, and send it to olwethu@safcei.org.za by 18 September 2023.

We kindly request you to share this opportunity widely within Southern and East Africa.