Workshops and Capacity Building Projects

A Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR)

The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, received financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for the cost of the Investment Plan for the Caribbean Regional Track of the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience,.

Some of the major achievements of the Caribbean Regional Track of the PPCR include:

  • LIDAR Data acquisition conducted for three vulnerable sites in Jamaica and Haiti. Data products including Bathymetry for Haiti and Topography and Bathymetry for Jamaica.
  • Data storage, back-up and fail-over systems installed in Belize, Trinidad and Barbados for the housing of all of the Caribbean Climate Data.
  • Automatic Weather Stations acquired for Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
  • Acquisition of a super-computer (SPARKS) for use by Climate Studies Group Mona to do downscaling.
  • Development of an early warning platform for use by fishers (FEWER).
  • Refurbished Seed Bank at Bodles Jamaica.
  • Research on use and vulnerability of Rainwater Harvesting Systems in Jamaica, Grenada and Saint Lucia.
  • Seed Batch dryers acquired for Jamaica and CARDI stations in Belize and Antigua.

The Global-Local Caribbean Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Scenarios (GoLo CarSce)

The Global-Local Caribbean Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Scenarios (GoLo CarSce) project, funded by the European Commission, focused on efforts to help SIDS within the Caribbean region better understand and manage the effects of climate change.

The project was led by the Department of Life Sciences of The UWI St. Augustine Campus, in association with The UWI Mona Campus, the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies at The UWI Cave Hill Campus, the Cropper Foundation, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, and the Stockholm Environment Institute.

The project focused on socioeconomic scenarios, which were developed to examine the medium to long-term effects of climate change based on projected impacts on human health, water availability, forest biodiversity, agriculture and coasts.

This knowledge served to improve the countries’ resilience and build their adaptive capacity towards promoting more sustainable forms of development and sustainable livelihoods.

Climate research initiatives such as these, advanced by UWI scholars working in close collaboration with development partners and other stakeholders, require a simultaneous focus on sustainability and advocacy, building on the activist traditions of The UWI as a developmental university.