Gov’t implored to push environmental education
Published:Saturday | June 3, 2023 | 12:29 AMAsha Wilks/Gleaner Writer
THE GOVERNMENT is being urged to boost youth involvement in sustainable living and the maintenance of green spaces. Capitalising on current social trends -- which involves wide participation by young people -- has been cited as a means to increase their environmental education.
Dainalyn Swaby, a climate communications specialist, made the call to action, highlighting that professional experiences exposed her to a variety of techniques that stakeholders pushing climate engagement, youth outreach, and environment education could employ in Jamaica.
She said this required dynamic approaches, given that the issues are ever evolving.
“Even through my research, having completed my master’s (degree), it stressed on the importance of participatory and immersive approaches to environmental education,” said Swaby, a panellists at the Nature Preservation Foundation (NPF) public forum, which was held on Wednesday in commemoration of Hope Botanical Gardens’ 150th anniversary.
“We have the Hope Gardens, there’s Emancipation Park and several other green spaces and that’s critical to change the tempo as it relates to how we engage with young people and how we find ways to use green spaces and urban spaces to integrate sustainable living and lifestyle practices,” Swaby said.
“So, it’s not so much about the awareness and the behavioural change campaigns that’s instructing people to say ‘do this’, now it’s about how do we design activities that make it convenient for people to do it,” she said, citing the utilisation of Peace Garden, established by the Rotary Club of St Andrew, for various activities such as yoga and other exercise classes, and awards ceremonies.
Swaby added that this was also integral in the kind of legacy and culture that we should instil as it relates to environmental stewardship and behaviour.
While praising the efforts of the government, schools, societies, and community clubs for championing tree-planting initiatives, Swaby pointed out that these campaigns also needed to zero in on maintaining the country’s biodiversity.
“I say that because I would have participated in a tree-planting initiative at a particular school, only to have gone back to this school just a year later just to see that they have done some renovations and all the seedlings that we would have planted have now been uprooted and there were no plans to rehabilitate,” she said.
DISABLED COMMUNITY
Swaby also expressed that integration of green spaces and infrastructure to respond to the unique needs of members of the disabled community must be considered.
As an example of what could potentially be carried out in Jamaica, Swaby referenced the development of The Ability Garden in North Carolina, which incorporates garden-based programmes for individuals with disabilities and other overlooked and underserved groups.
“Ramps and public bathrooms are automatic in my opinion ... But now we have to see how we can expand and integrate the new developments,” she said of other kinds of equipment that can be used to aid people with physical challenges.
“And when we have those sort of integration, what it does is pull people towards green spaces, pull people out into the open,” she said, adding that these spaces must be family-oriented, safe and inclusive.