On August 27, Grenada’s Ministry of Climate Resilience, the Environment and Renewable Energy brought together youth-focused environmental organizations, international partners, and educational groups for a strategic orientation and collaborative planning workshop. The gathering centered on scaling up the Youth in Action for Climate Change Adaptation School Awareness Campaign, an initiative designed to embed climate literacy across the country’s primary and secondary education systems.
First launched in June 2025, the campaign tailors interactive, age-appropriate learning activities to students from pre-primary through secondary school. Its core goal is to help young learners grasp how climate change uniquely impacts Grenada’s small island ecosystem, and understand the adaptive actions that individuals and local communities can take to build long-term resilience.
Hosted at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development Conference Room in the national Ministerial Complex, the August 27 workshop aligned with the ministry’s broader strategy to strengthen cross-sector partnerships, expand the campaign’s geographic reach across Grenada, and build the capacity of youth organizations to lead climate education both in classrooms and through community-based extracurricular programs.
The workshop opened with opening remarks from Permanent Secretary Peron Johnson, who stressed that intentional collaboration with active youth-led groups is critical to expanding the campaign’s impact, deepening meaningful youth engagement on climate issues, and driving collective climate action across schools and local neighborhoods. Following Johnson’s address, Clive Murray, Programme Specialist for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change at UNICEF, outlined UNICEF’s ongoing support for Grenada’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process, with a specific focus on integrating child-centered priorities into national climate planning.
Dr. Roxanne Graham-Victor, Grenada’s National Climate Change Adaptation Officer, then delivered a detailed overview of the country’s updated Revised National Adaptation Plan 2025–2030, explaining how the school awareness campaign aligns with the plan’s targets and Grenada’s broader national goals for sustainable development and climate resilience.
Attendees at the workshop represented a diverse range of organizations, including the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) Grenada Chapter, the Caribbean Youth Climate Council (CYCC), Akata Farms, UNICEF, 195in365 Be the Change, the T A Marryshow Community College Environmental Awareness Movement (TEAM), the St George’s University Education Conservation Outreach (ECO) Club, and RCC Caribbean. During the session, participating partners were introduced to the range of interactive methodologies already being deployed through the campaign. These include age-adapted activities such as interactive classroom presentations on climate science, traditional storytelling for preschool learners, hands-on prop and visual aid activities, lessons on Grenada’s historical relationship to water resources, creative writing and poetry competitions focused on climate themes, student-led role-play enactments of local climate adaptation projects, and poster-making campaigns that center youth-produced climate messaging. All activities are designed to make climate change accessible, relatable, and engaging for learners across every age group.
Beyond introducing existing campaign frameworks, the workshop created an open space for participating organizations to share new ideas for strengthening the initiative, and to outline how their unique networks and expertise can support future school outreach efforts. Partners also had the opportunity to outline what types of support — including specialized training, updated educational materials, access to resources, and administrative backing — they would need from the ministry to fully participate in the campaign’s expansion.
Through this collaborative, stakeholder-driven approach, the Ministry of Climate Resilience aims to build a broad, coordinated network of trained individuals and organizations that can collectively advance climate change awareness and action among Grenada’s children and young people. Ultimately, the Youth in Action campaign supports the full implementation of Grenada’s Revised NAP by translating national climate resilience priorities into hands-on, practical learning experiences. These experiences encourage young people to understand the climate challenges facing their local communities, and empower them to take ownership of building a more climate-resilient future for Grenada.