Taking into account the importance of climate change and its potential devastating effects on the Caribbean region but also the opportunities in sustainable development that will form part of our children’s future job opportunities, the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development is planning to host a Science Fair later this year on the topic of Climate Change. The fair will exemplify how Climate Change ties in with topics in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S.T.E.M).

In preparation for this fair, a workshop was held at the National Stadium on 9th January 2018 in partnership with Environment Division of Ministry of Agriculture, Land, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under the Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies” (ICCAS) project. During the workshop, 70 teachers are being trained on the use of the Climate Change toolkit called “How to become a Greenz Climate Champion”. The toolkit was launched in 2016 by the ICCAS project and it consists of a teacher manual, a worksheet collection, student passports, stickers and posters. Grenadian illustrator Stacey Byer developed child-friendly images for each unit.

The workshop comprises of a series of lectures and extensive hands-on practical approach by participants. Besides the preparation for the Science Fair, it introduces a partnership programme which will train the teachers in partnering with other teachers to impart the knowledge on climate change. It is expected that the partnership program will be a valuable approach to generate and disseminate climate change knowledge and will also act as a motivational tool. Pre- and post- workshop evaluations will be conducted by both participants and trainers.

Changes in behaviour are a long term process and it might take a generation or two to introduce sustainable production and consumption patterns that are in line with nature, such as investments of energy efficient refrigerators or air conditioning, the avoidance of plastics and waste or water saving measures. The Climate Change toolkit was introduced in the hope of accelerating the speed of such changes. Other island states have already expressed interest to reprint, copy or adapt the toolkit, which is available for free from the governmental website: http://www.gov.gd/articles/greenz-champion/greenz-climate-champions.html

Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies” (ICCAS) is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) under its International Climate Initiative (IKI) and implemented jointly by the Government of Grenada, GIZ and the UNDP.