changemakers to train
%
co-created with practitioners
to achieve our mission
Free
core courses always available
Our mission
To upskill 10,000 waste managers across the Global South in 10 years. Through free and low-cost training, we’re helping people build waste systems that protect health, create jobs, and keep going long after the funding ends.
People closest to the problem often have the fewest chances to learn. The Academy changes that – by sharing tools, support, and experience in a way that’s open, affordable, and designed for real-world conditions.
10k Waste Leaders
Building sustainable systems across the Global South
Who It’s For
Governments and Municipalities
Public sector workers building waste systems that serve their communities effectively.
Community Leaders
Community groups, social enterprises, frontline waste workers, and volunteers leading change from the ground up.
Young Professionals
Early-career professionals who want to learn practical skills and lead sustainable waste management initiatives.
What you’ll learn
Practical training designed for real life
Build Better Systems
How to design and improve basic waste systems that work in low-resource, high-pressure environments.
Practical Tools
Templates and tools for planning, sorting, routing, collecting, and tracking that you can use immediately.
Reduce Harmful Practices
Strategies to reduce open burning and manage waste simply, protecting community health and the environment.
Lead Change
Skills for leading transformation in real communities with complex challenges and limited resources.
Work with People
How to engage communities, build partnerships, and lead change with people, not just infrastructure.
Sustainable Solutions
How to build systems that last beyond project funding and create long-term positive impact.
How it works
We keep it practical, flexible, and human. You’ll get:
Self-paced online courses
Live sessions and Q&As
Templates and tools to use straight away
A growing network of peers and mentors
Everything is shaped for people working in low-resource, high-pressure environments – and made to fit around real work.
Passing it forward
The Academy is supported by our Studio.
Every paid project helps us offer more free and low-cost learning to frontline waste leaders. It’s our way of paying it forward – and building the future, together.
If you’re interested in partnering with the Global Waste Lab Academy to support our content, please get in touch.
Ready to get started?
Join a growing community of waste leaders across the Global South.
Built with practitioners
Global Waste Lab Academy is being shaped with practitioners who know their own contexts deeply – people who understand the systems, pressures and possibilities because they have worked in them directly.
The first courses have been co-created with contributors from Cameroon, Ethiopia and Vietnam. Each one brings practical experience, local insight, and a clear sense of what is genuinely useful to share with others.
We are proud to put their names alongside this work.
Lucien Yoppa - Cameroon
Course: Source Separation
Lucien brought his experience from Cameroon into the Source separation course, helping shape content that reflects what it takes to make sorting systems work in everyday conditions.
Gemechu Beyene – Ethiopia
Course: Waste and health
Gemechu co-created the Waste and health course, bringing practical understanding of risk, protection, and the links between waste management systems and public health.
Tram Nguyen – Vietnam
Course: Food waste
Tram helped develop the Food waste course, sharing practical insight from Vietnam on prevention, separation, and realistic ways to respond to organic waste in daily practice.
Academy team
Zoë Lenkiewicz - UK
Founder and director
Leads the vision, content direction and overall development of Global Waste Lab and the Academy.
David Leeke - UK
Web and learning platform lead
Builds and manages the website and learning platform that bring the Academy to life online.
Georgina Njeru – Kenya
Course reviewer
Supports Academy course quality review, with legal expertise and Global South waste knowledge.