As the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season approaches, the Caribbean island nation of Dominica is launching a groundbreaking new educational initiative designed to equip its youngest residents with the knowledge and skills to address climate change and natural disaster risk. The Junior Climate Resilience Champions Program, developed and led by the island’s long-running non-profit Business Training Center (BTC), will kick off this July, with full funding supported by a $22,000 grant from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SPC) through its Small Grants Programme.
The free program will welcome 125 young participants between the ages of 5 and 15 across two months of summer learning and hands-on community engagement. To ensure age-appropriate instruction aligned with each group’s developmental needs, BTC has split participants into two cohorts. For younger learners aged 5 to 9, core climate and disaster concepts will be introduced through playful, immersive formats including interactive storytelling, educational games, and hands-on group activities. Older participants, aged 10 to 15, will dive into more complex topics, ranging from foundational climate science and local disaster risk assessment to collaborative problem-solving for climate adaptation.
The program’s structured curriculum is organized around five core thematic areas: comprehensive disaster risk management, introductory principles of climate-resilient infrastructure engineering, climate literacy through creative and artistic expression, community-focused environmental action, and individual leadership capacity building. Unlike traditional classroom-only education programs, the Junior Climate Resilience Champions places heavy emphasis on practical, real-world application of learned concepts. Participants will take part in a range of community-focused projects, including native tree planting drives, watershed clean-up campaigns, the development of shared community food gardens, and educational visits to local sustainable farms.
In a nod to Dominica’s own recent history of devastating climate disasters, the program will also include guided educational tours to sites deeply impacted by past extreme weather events. Scheduled stops include the Hurricane Maria memorial in the coastal community of Pointe Michel, and several hard-hit communities in the Kalinago Territory, a decades-long experience with climate impacts that organizers say will help young participants connect abstract concepts to tangible, local experiences. These on-site visits are designed to reinforce the critical importance of disaster preparedness and long-term resilience building for the island.
BTC Managing Director Lucia Stedman emphasized the intergenerational impact of the initiative in a statement ahead of the program’s launch. “This program is about planting seeds of resilience in the next generation,” Stedman explained. “As hurricane season 2026 officially begins, Dominica knows firsthand the devastating effects of climate-related disasters. By equipping our young people with practical knowledge and skills, we are building communities that are better prepared, more aware, and actively engaged in protecting our environment.”
Beyond educating the 125 direct participants, the program is structured to amplify its impact across entire communities through its “Climate Champions” model. Young participants are encouraged to share the lessons and skills they gain with family members, neighbors and peers, extending climate literacy far beyond the program’s direct cohort.
With nearly 30 years of experience designing and delivering youth development and community empowerment programs across Dominica, BTC brings deep institutional knowledge and local trust to the initiative, positioning the organization to successfully cultivate a new generation of environmentally conscious, disaster-ready Dominican citizens.