The University of Guyana in collaboration with Catalyste +, a Canadian development partner, recently hosted a weeklong modelling workshop aimed at strengthening the capacity of students, researchers, and government technical staff working on climate change, land, energy, and water resources management.
The workshop was held under the theme: “Enhancing policy coherence for the SDGs through integrated climate, land, energy and water (CLEWs) assessments and institutional strengthening in Guyana”. It was facilitated by Canadian expert, Dr. Taco Niet, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, School of Sustainable Energy Engineering; at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. The workshop was held at the University’s Turkeyen Campus and ran from January 15 to 19 and saw over 15 participants benefiting.
The initiative was supported by the Canada-Caribbean Expert Deployment Mechanism, a Canada-funded project. This Caribbean-specific mechanism, managed by Catalyste+ (formerly CESO), is a partnership between Canada and national government entities to provide Canadian expertise to help build capacity in identified priority areas.
The workshop was aimed at providing participants with the skills to assess the interlinkages between resource systems in order to understand how production and use of food, energy and water resources contribute to climate change and how climate change affects these resource systems. It was also intended to equip participants with the knowledge that will allow them to more efficiently manage Guyana’s resources and mitigate climate change while growing the economy and working to achieve the sustainable development goals.
In her remarks, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Paloma Mohamed Martin said that the University was extremely delighted to be partnering with Canadian High Commission and its partner agencies in planning and executing the workshop. The VC thanked the Government and people of Canada for their support and noted that the initiative will serve as a massive boost to the efforts being made by the University and the country as a whole to understand and efficiently manage Guyana’s land and marine resources.
The VC added that water ways and oceans are important to Guyana and noted that in a few days’ time the University will launch the Institute of Marine Ecology and River Economics which will be housed at the institution’s Tain Campus in Berbice.
Head of Cooperation at the Canadian High Commission in Georgetown, Mr Adam Loyer noted that the importance of comprehensive, climate smart policies and integrated planning have become a global focus as the economic, human, and ecological costs to respond to and recover from climate-related disasters increase in frequency and severity.
