Office
of the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal. Tuesday, September 1, 2020
– The
University of the West Indies (The UWI) Open Campus recently launched
its inaugural Student Entrepreneurial Competition on Climate Change.
The competition was launched at a joint Webinar between ACCA and The
UWI Open Campus entitled Investing
in the future: business and finance professionals can tackle climate
change. The
competition is scheduled to run from September 2020 – July 2021 and
will see student teams competing at the national and regional levels
in the two stages of the competition.

Pro
Vice-Chancellor and Principal of The UWI Open Campus, Dr Luz
Longsworth in her remarks at the Webinar indicated that “The UWI
has been a leader in the area of SDG 13, which is the sustainable
development goal that deals with climate change, and has for decades
been at the forefront of climate research and advocacy that highlight
the need for this issue to permeate not just the scientific community
but all communities that need to survive…”

She
noted that “in order for leaders in 4.0 environments to address and
mitigate the issues of climate change there are five areas of which
they should be aware: social responsibility, data driven decision
making, innovation—which
is
the key element of the future, leadership—thinking without any
concept of a box, and creating talent champions—thinking of future
leaders.”

“The
climate change competition is aimed at our youths and is challenging
them to look at entrepreneurial solutions to climate change. The
future is now and we as leaders must empower our young people to take
us there,” said Dr Longsworth.

The
goal of the competition is to provide useful educational and
entrepreneurial experience focused on important real-world
experiences. It will focus on climate change and how the Caribbean
can best adapt to and mitigate resulting social, economic and
environmental impacts. It will seek to address short and longer term
challenges in the region as a result of climate change.

The
competition will see student teams from The UWI campuses and other
universities across the region, working together to submit their
ideas in the form of proposals, business plans and concept papers on
topics focused on current and projected climate change impacts on the
Caribbean's environmental, economic and societal sectors.

President
of the Guild of Student, Mr Leon Dawson in endorsing the competition
on behalf of the Open Campus Guild of Students stated “as a student
of The UWI Open Campus and a resident of the region who depends so
heavily on mother nature for survival, it is imperative for us to
know and understand the importance of protecting the environment and
to know how to reduce the threats of climate change.”

Dawson
added, “this competition will provide a platform for students to
showcase their different instruments on ideas, such as policies,
regulations, technological devices and financial incentives that are
needed for climate change mitigation and adaptation.”

This
competition will serve as an important catalyst for environmental and
social sustainability and business development throughout the
Caribbean. It will focus on environmental conservation and justice,
country specific or regional policies and laws, innovative businesses
to reduce carbon footprint, impactful communication and environmental
education as well as urban and community resilience.

As
the region continues to heed the call for climate action, The UWI
Open Campus looks forward to working with the student teams to
develop and support sustainable solutions to the Caribbean's climate
change mitigation efforts.

Teams
will be awarded points based on impact, innovation, team dynamics,
use of social media, viability and potential. Monetary prizes will
be awarded to the winning teams.

For
information on how to participate in this competition, please visit
www.open.uwi.edu/climate-change.
The
deadline for entry is September 30, 2020.