Upload
keita
View
37
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse. Dr Elaine Tweneboah Lawson Prof Chris Gordon Dr Adelina Mensah Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Citation preview
Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse
Dr Elaine Tweneboah LawsonProf Chris Gordon
Dr Adelina Mensah
Institute for Environment and Sanitation Studies
Experts Meeting on Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development in Africa Mauritius 20 -22 March 2013
We need to make climate change:
How do we increase awareness of climate change issues among the children and youth?
Generally climate change is seen as a scientific subject and is perceived among children and youth as:
Halting the Menace; Improving the Management of Ghana’s Coasts by Engaging and Empowering the Youth
It aims to: • Educate on environmental issues• Understand perceptions on the environment as compared to reality• Develop peer-to-peer communication tools which they use to share
their knowledge, skills, and attitudes • Document their abilities to adapt to a changing physical environment. • Methodology: “EDSiR” Education; Development of communication
tools;Sharing information (with other children and youth, parents, teachers, decision-makers, civil society); Replication of results in other schools and communities.
The collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation uses interactive and participatory methods to engage children and youth in the coastal zone of Ghana
Target Group: children and youth (11-17 years) in Anlo-Ewe migrant communities
An education and capacity building component was built into the project to support the identified groups. Topics were determined after initial community visits as well as consultation with community leaders. Posters and flyers were developed for this purpose. The topics were:
o Erosion and sand winningo Declining fish catcho Marine pollutiono Poor sanitationo Marine debriso Algal blooms
o Availability of watero Over exploitation of
forests/woodo Climate change o St. Paul’s wilt disease of
coconut
An interactive session on the five most identified environmental issues was given. Because none of the participants readily mentioned climate change, the component on climate change was presented for all the communities.
Issues Frequency
Cutting down of trees 93
Rubbish/Bush Burning 73
Sand winning 54
Indiscriminate throwing about of rubbish 51
Over-grazing by animals 49
Land Degradation / Pollution 46
Open Defecation along the coast 31
Using DDT to fish 11
Climate Change 10
Solutions Frequency
Stop cutting trees and/or Planting more trees 85
Stop Air Pollution (Rubbish / Bush burning) 73
Stop throwing rubbish about 50
Stop defecating along the coast 35
Finding food for our cattle so they stop over-grazing 33
Stop sand winning/Prevent Soil erosion 30
Stop using DDT to fish 14
Group Environmental issueMethod of
communication
1 Dumping rubbish along beaches Play
2 Water pollution Play
3 Defecating in water bodies Play
4 Defecating along the coast Play
5 Using ddt to fish Poetry6 Land degradation Poetry
7 Defecating in water bodies Dancing
8 Defecating in water bodies Play
9 Defecating along the coast Play
10 Water pollution Singing
Developing communication tools
Lessons learnt so far and the Future1. “Use what they know to teach them what they do not know” 2. Easier for children to identify with issues affecting their immediate
environment. They see climate change as vague and in the future3. Use examples of how climate change is interacting with factors in local
environment and affecting them directly.4. Make climate change real to themFurther Work• Sharing information• Migration and environmental perceptions• Coastal profiling• Sensitisation programme for media personnel• Sustainability: Use of existing environmental/sanitation/CC clubs in
schools and communities
Thank you