UWI collaborates with Project Discovery Barbados on the hosting of CARYFED 2025
On Jan 22, 2025, officials from the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at UWI Cave Hill met with the members of the Project Discovery Barbados (PDBds) Executive Committee to collaborate on the activities, presentations and tours scheduled for the Caribbean Youth Forum on Environment and Development (CARYFED)
Representing CERMES were:
Prof Dr David Yawson - CERMES Director
Ms Maria Pena - Project Officer
Dr Julian Walcott - Lecturer
Representing PDBds were:
Mr Tyrone King - CARYFED 2025 Coordinator
Ms Kaliyah Kirton - Special Advisor to the Executive Committee
Mr Mekhi Nurse - PDBds Vice President
Ms Renika Crichlow - PDBds Treasurer
Mr Romario Bishop - PDBds Communications Officer
After formal introductions of CERMES staff followed by PDBds representatives, Ms Kirton presented an overview of the Project Discovery model of youth development. She mentioned the 5 programme pillars of the organisation and focused attention on CARYFED. The CARYFED model was explained in detail.
CERMES staffers were then invited to comment on their impressions of the programme and especially CARYFED. The feedback was quite heartening. Of particular interest was the significant number of Barbadian youth that would be exposed to, and trained in, planning and executing the forum: the logistics teams, the culinary team, the forum management team, and of course the youth that would make up the Barbados contingent of participants to the forum. All in all, approximately 60 Barbadian young persons receiving direct training or having direct participation in the forum.
For most of the meeting, the determination of content and the scope of presentations and activities, took centre stage . Dr Yawson was particularly influential as he carefully charted session content, time segments and gave insights into the procedures and logistics that the PDBds Planning Team would have to comply with, and execute, in order to bring these plans to fruition. Of particular focus was practical sessions to cover the use of Technology in the Blue Economy sector.
Dr Julian focused on the content for sessions to highlight income-generating opportunities for youth applying their skillsets, academic and other training, to the Blue Economy Sector in the Caribbean region.
Ms Maria Pena exposed the PDBds team of CARYFED 2025 planners to several "out of the box" approaches to address user conflicts and Blue Justice. It is proposed that several of these be explored at CARYFED 2025.
PDBds is now equipped with the knowledge and capacity to host a forum unlike any other youth forum scheduled to be held in the Caribbean in 2025. We are especially grateful that this was only the first in a series of meetings to determine and confirm content for the forum schedule. Additionally, progress-monitoring meetings are scheduled to evaluate the preparations for the forum and also to assist in the execution of activities during the August 2 to August 15, Caribbean Youth Forum on Environment and Development (CARYFED) 2025.
