CLIMATE HERITAGE NETWORK (CHN) – AFRICA AND THE ARAB STATES REGIONAL SECRETARIAT
Position: Regional Coordinator
- Hours: 37.5 hours per week (100% Full Time Equivalent. Annual contract, with option to renew)
- Reports to: Regional Co-Chair (CHN Africa and the Arab States) and ultimately accountable to the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU) leadership and CHN Steering Committee
- Location: Kampala – the Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda
WHO WE ARE:
With more than 360 member organizations worldwide, the CHN is a vital and growing network for organizations working on the cultural dimensions of climate change and the socio-cultural enabling conditions of transformative climate action.
The CHN was launched in October 2019 in Edinburgh, UK by organisations from around the world searching for ways to mobilise art, culture and heritage for climate action. Founding members were driven by a recognition that business as usual leads to an ever-warming globe with catastrophic consequences for the planet, its peoples, and their cultures and heritage. They also shared a common concern that the power of culture to drive transformative change was not being fully realised and utilised.
To achieve its aims, the CHN is creating a diverse network with distributed, volunteer leadership that links people and organisations towards a shared vision. The CHN aims to foster and facilitate collaborative efforts to share information, coordinate activities, and develop strategies across diverse organizations and constituencies. The Cross-Cultural Foundation of Uganda (CCFU) is a coordinating hub of the Africa and Arab secretariat of the CHN.
CHN Members are united by the CHN’s 2022-24 Action Plan, which is based on a Theory of Change that culture – from arts to heritage – enables transformative climate action by empowering people to imagine and realise low-carbon, just, climate resilient futures.
The Action Plan establishes two goals for calendar years 2022-24:
- Increase the quantity and quality of culture-based climate action by CHN member organisations and other cultural voices at local, regional, national, and international scales and across sectors by (a) Developing ‘guiding values’ for culture-based climate action, (b) Developing and promoting tools, and (c) Designing and launching the culture initiative of the Race to Resilience.
- Transform climate policy by using culture and heritage to embed in climate policymaking at all levels social imaginaries of low-carbon, just and fair, climate resilient living, while encouraging attention to climate justice, both to improve the efficacy of climate planning and action, and to support the work of local cultural voices, by (a) stimulating engagement by cultural voices with key international climate policy issues, and (b) stimulating engagement by cultural voices at key climate policy forums.
To realise these goals, the CHN will work to enhance the functionality of its own networking platform and the benefits available to CHN member via the network, through an enhanced regional structure; and more impactful communications strategies.
THE OPPORTUNITY:
- Coordinate the work of the CHN in the Africa and the Arab States region to help people imagine and realize low-carbon, just, climate-resilient futures and to support communities in achieving the ambitions of the Paris Agreement.
- Grow the membership of the CHN in the region and manage member services in order to increase the diversity and breadth of organisations actively engaged and working together to pursue culture-based responses to climate change.
- Work with staff of leading cultural organisations acting on climate change in the region to develop shared strategies and advocacy campaign opportunities – including ICOMOS, IFLA, ICOM, INTO, UCLG, etc.
- Coordinate and support engagement by CHN member organisations from the region in regional and international fora.
SKILLS REQUIRED:
The CHN Regional Secretariat Coordinator is a leader, strategist, network organiser, manager and fundraiser tasked with coordinating the work of the CHN in the region.
You should be passionate about solving the climate crisis by realising the power of culture to help drive transformative climate action. You should have strategic leadership skills and experience within a social movement context; be an excellent collaborator, with a strong background in stakeholder engagement and building relationships across sectoral divides.
Ideally, you also:
- Are a proven campaigner and leader in alliances and collaborations
- Have experience in fundraising
- Have worked within both climate and culture campaigns
CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:
Strategic Leadership and Planning
- Building on the existing CHN Action Plan, coordinate development of strategy for the region, including designing culture sector engagement with relevant regional climate policy processes.
- Support development of the CHN’s next three-year plan (2025-27).
Relationship Building & Collaboration
- Ensure ongoing engagement, collaboration and strengthening of relationships between CHN members in the Region through delivery of shared policy, advocacy and communications campaigns and regular events.
- Mobilize CHN member organizations in the Region in support of delivery of the Action Plan. This includes coordinating CHN members’ participation in international climate fora such as the UN Conference of the Parties (COP), Africa Climate Week (ACW), and ensure other positions are advanced at key international convenings (i.e. G20) via CHN members.
- Design and implement regular communications to CHN regional members, including eAlerts and social media.
- Coordinate inclusion of regional members in CHN delegations to external constituencies (Race to Resilience, GloablABC, SURGe). Work to elevate diverse voices from across the CHN’s membership in furtherance of the CHN’s external narrative.
Network Development and Engagement
- Recruit new CHN members from a diverse range of dimensions of culture, scales and geographies, and manage new member applications;
- Provide orientation to new member organizations; and maintain a current online database of CHN members;
- Support efforts to build stronger engagement by CHN members to influence regional, national, and international climate policy and to implement climate programs in their own organisations/jurisdictions.
- Liaise with international CHN projects (Heritage Adapts to Climate Alliance, Decarbonising Built Environment Through Heritage) to assure regional voices are included and maintain coherence between the work of these projects and the work of the Regional Secretariat.
- Create and manage the regional focal point position for the CHN’s Global Campaign to Put Cultural Heritage, Arts and Creative Sector at the Heart of Climate Action.
Management and sustainability of CHN
- Achieve financial sustainability for CHN, including maintaining and growing membership levels, fundraising and securing new income, including philanthropic gifts, and oversee management of finances and reporting
- Ensure all regulatory reporting and compliance obligations are met
- Represent the CHN in engagements with governments, civil society organizations, businesses, cities and other non-state actors to advance CHN climate policy strategy; communicates with the media.
QUALIFICATIONS OR WORK REQUIREMENTS:
Essential
- Ability to work reasonable evening and weekend hours where required in order to engage with members and stakeholders across the globe with different timelines.
- Ability for international travel.
- Ability to speak English
Desirable
- Experience working on both climate change and cultural issues
- Experience in facilitation and leadership of collaborative campaigns
- Experience working as part of a distributed team
- Experience with fundraising
- Experience reporting to a board or committee of management
The CHN aims to be as diverse as the world we are trying to change. We are an equal opportunity employer and people who identify as Indigenous, coming from a non-English speaking background, women and other vulnerable groups are encouraged to apply.
HOW TO APPLY
Qualified applicants should submit a resume and brief cover letter describing their interest in this position via email to ccfu@crossculturalfoundation.or.ug and copy trust@crossculturalfoundation.or.ug with the subject: First Name Last Name, Coordinator. Deadline for application is 15th November 2024