St. Maarten Private Eye

Community Education is the KEY to confronting and combatting Climate Change, without a program to inform and educate the people of the island on the issue and the reasons for the drastic and urgent need for changes then they will meet resistance. People need to understand why before they make sacrifices and sacrifices are going to be called for, but they can be minimised, very often it is only a question of changing peoples bad habits.

Our foundations on the island have been doing what they can with the little funding or donations that have been made available to them over the years. Mostly their educational work has been with children and schools, the hoped for result being that the next generation grows up with a better understanding and apprecation of our natural Evironment, and maybe nag their parents about it too.

We no longer have the time for this long term process, it's the parents and adults that need the educating. We are the ones that drive the cars, decide on airco or fans, water heaters or solar tanks, groceries and purchases, etc. It is the lifestyle that we have embraced and are addicted to that is destroying our planet

The Community Education Program must be oranised like a marketing campaign, with a program and budget, each component of it complimenting and supporting the program as a whole. Half assed measures will not work, this is not a problem that can be solved with temporary solutions or weak efforts. Below you will find the outline of the program I am proposing, feel free to post questions and suggestions.

The Team

One of the problems Enviro foundations have, other than money, is the lack of staff and manpower, you can only call on and rely upon volunteers up to a point. There needs to be a full time staff on this program, at least 6, drawn from enviro specialists and students who are pursuing enviro studies. This team will be provided with training and equipment and they will co-ordinate and manage the various components and campaigns, they will work closely with existing foundations.

Community Education

A series of public workshops, presentations and events will be planned throughout the year, in particular at community centers and aimed at adults. Each Community Council will be asked to appoint an Enviro Committee and events will be co-ordinated with them within their districts. These events will include films and free drinks and snacks will be offered to those who attend. Perhaps even T-shirts too and a raffle, whatever it takes to get people there. The team will also support current school programs

Surveys and opinion polls will be carried out on a regular basis, these not only serve to promote the issue, but will also show how effective the program is and where it is effective or not.

Media Support

The Media must offer it's full support, this is not an issue that they can remain unbiased or neutral on, they need to be pressured to adopt a position, preferably a supporting one. GEBE already has ads that promote energy saving ideas, these need to be expanded upon and more talk shows need to make it a topic. There are a multitude of information audio and videos for both radio and TV that can be obtained and used.

Co-ordinating with the various foundations, the team will create schedules and ensure information about events are well reported in the media. A monthly suppliment may be an idea for this, along with a weekly page. Same for weekly radio programs and regular appearences by team members on shows.

Campaign Materials

The Team would be supplied with equipment they require, projecter and sceen for example, a van, science experiments and demonstration materials. Included will be other items such as posters, booklets and nicnacs, all on recycled paper and enviro friendly. Below you will find a link to a Global Warming Flyer (pdf) as an example.

Global Warming Fact Flyer

Notes:
It could well be possible to find a sponsor or two who will pay for this flyer to be printed, but just this alone will not have much affect or make much difference, it needs to be included in an ongoing long term comprehensive campaign. What we really need is one or two big sponsors to make commitments to such a program which will then put the pressure on others to step up and do the same. As it takes effect, more and more people will get on board and they will start applying pressure on the politicians to get their act together too.

As I said at the top, Education is the KEY, this is where it starts. The other aspects of my plan, regarding energy, tranport etc are all heavily dependant upon the community understanding and being involved.

Feel free to share your questions and suggestions below.

add new comment