Students schooled in Vetiver for Climate Action and Green Business Development
St. John’s, 15 June 2023. A total of fifty (50) teachers and students from four (4) secondary schools, namely the Seventh Day Adventist School, Clare Hall Secondary, Jennings Secondary and the Ottos Comprehensive School, were treated to a tour of the Garden of Vetiver Nursery located at GARD Centre. This tour was designed to sensitize youth about their natural world, natural hazards, human threats, and actions that can be taken to mitigate/reduce adverse impacts of climate change.
Educating and encouraging children and youth to get involved in climate action, can be done through creative and innovative ways that meet their attention span, activity interest and absorptive capacity. This is an important element of the project to strengthen coastal and marine climate resilience through upland and coastal ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) and community engagement, implemented by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). This EbA project is funded by the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) EbA Facility which is supported by the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and is implemented in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Lucia and Tobago.
The school tour, facilitated by GARDC, introduced groups of teachers and students to the vetiver nursery, where learned about the importance of plants for a healthy planet. As the main nature-based solution (NbS), the tour focused on requirements for growing vetiver grass and how it improves soil health, purifies water, and the range of by-products that can be developed to support livelihoods. The teaching element of the tour included a 10-minute classroom session to familiarize students with climate change, EbA, NbS concepts using 3 inter-connected short videos. The fun part of the tour included a practical session where students got the opportunity to make vetiver-based soaps and the sampling of the most anticipated product – vetiver grass ice cream derived from the leaves. The tour culminated in a mini green business fair where the teachers and students interacted with the local green business entrepreneurs who showcased their several local vetiver-based bath and body products, including soaps, foot scrub, and incense.
Developing creative and usable products to start and grow business opportunities from climate action solutions is important to provide a firm base for sustainability. June Jackson Director of GARDC, who managed the EbA school tour, encouraged the students to continue to be creative and pursue their passion, as seen in their enthusiasm during the short soap-making session.
IICA National Specialist Craig M. Thomas commended both teachers and students for taking time out to participate in this meaningful project activity, during a time when schools are preparing for exams and other end-of-year school activities.