Environmental research

Parvati Girls Hindu College is a denominational secondary school located in Debe, South Trinidad. Their history of community based environmental projects has engendered a culture of activism within the institution. Building on this foundation the school would like to initiate projects beyond its borders, both in geographical as well as demographic terms. It is in this light that they have undertaken the project, Educating children about Climate Change one child at a time. The goal of the project is to educate young persons (ages 9 to 19) about climate change and effect a change in their attitudes towards climate change. The grantee for this project is Parvati Girls Hindu College and the beneficiaries are the students in primary and secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago and young persons aged 9-19. The College has undertaken to design and market the game as well as provide training in the use of the game as a teaching tool. This game would in turn facilitate a change in attitudes towards climate change. Climaquest is an edutainment board game played by four or more players which which has been developed. The school has intentions to market and take the game to the next stage. The board is divided into a series of squares which instructs the player as to the next move. The instructions encapsulate a series of rewards and sanctions based on environmental practices related to climate change hence the name Climaquest . The object of the game is to accumulate assets that are sustainable and environmentally friendly. These assets include alternative energy plants such as wind, solar and hydroelectric as well as equipment such as wind turbines and solar panels. Other practices that are rewarded are planting of trees, recycling, carpooling and alternative forms of transportation. In playing the game, poor environmental practices such as the burning of garbage and indiscriminate cutting of trees are highlighted. The player with the most assets wins. The Climaquest game can also be used as a teaching aid in the classroom for the topic of climate change. The following encapsulates the chronology of activities necessary to bring the project to fruition: stake holder meeting, refining of Climaquest prototype; copyrighting of game; production of game and lesson plans for use as a teaching tool, training of teachers in the utilization of the game in classrooms, marketing of game and distribution of game to primary and secondary schools. A letter of consent to engage in this project has been obtained from the Maha Sabha School board and a letter of support/ endorsement from the School Supervisor III for the Victoria Education District, Ministry of Education has also been obtained for this project. The Ministry of Education and NALIS will be approached for support in the distribution of the game to schools. This would result in the availability of the Climaquest game to all registered primary and secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago and the use of the game by a broad cross section of young persons (9-19yrs) and 100 teachers trained in the use of the game as a teaching aid. Further it is expected that all persons who played the game will gain knowledge about climate change and engage in practices that are sustainable and environmentally sound. The estimated total project cost is $63,530.21 USD, the SGP requested funds is $48,662.20 USD and the minimum estimated in- kind contribution is $14,868.00 USD. Revenues gained from the sale of the game will be reinvested to buy new games and to market it to the CARICOM community, revenues will also be utilized in environmental education programmes in the school .

Trinidad and tobago