engaging and empowering children and youth in the climate change discourse

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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 Experts Meeting on Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development in Africa Mauritius 20 -22 March 2013

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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

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Page 1: Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse

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

Page 2: Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse

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:

Page 3: Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse

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

Page 4: Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse

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

Page 5: Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse

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.

Page 6: Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse

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

Page 7: Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse

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

Page 8: Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse

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

Page 9: Engaging and Empowering children and youth in the Climate Change Discourse

Thank you