Students explore the space where technology and environment merge

econdary school students on Monday got the opportunity to explore career paths that merge environmental sustainability with innovation and technology when the Ministry of Youth held its GreenTech Expo.

 

The event, which took place at the Hilton Barbados Resort, featured a variety of booths with experts in the field who interacted with the students, highlighting some of the elements of their jobs, providing tips about the prerequisite subjects needed for such careers and explaining how those jobs combat environmental challenges.

 

There were showcases by the Fisheries Division, Eco Sky Water, the Barbados National Oil Company, the Barbados Environmental Sustainability Fund, Walker Reserve, Ino-Gro Inc, the Bio Educational Research Programme and more.

 

Director of Youth Affairs Cleviston Hunte said the expo was held to ensure that students, who could not participate in such activities due to the health restrictions associated with the heightened phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, could still get the opportunity to see the possibilities in the green energy sector.

 

He added: “All stakeholders should come on board with us as we embark on redressing the critical concerns of young people which were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognise that during this period, there was a systematic undermining of gains that young people would have [had]. These workshops are those efforts to recapture and regain the ground for our young people.”

 

The GreenTech Expo culminates celebrations for National Youth Week, which is a period on the national calendar of events dedicated to the youth and highlighting and celebrating young people.

 

National Youth Week aims to create national awareness of the issues confronting young people; highlight the positive contribution of youth to national development; promote opportunities and programs offered by the Division of Youth Affairs; and celebrate the work of staff in the Division of Youth Affairs and other stakeholders in furthering the youth development agenda.

 

Hunte added that young people must see themselves as movers and shakers as it relates to developing policies and systems to ensure the island’s sustainable development goals are materialised.

 

He said green technology was fast becoming the cornerstone of the future economy and it was important to ensure the youth had a role to play in this.

 

“In short order, if not already, technology will control the means of production in the country,” he said. “We only have to look at what is in the news currently in relation to the issue in the United States with the longshoremen and the potential impact and disruption that will have for Caribbean economies if those issues are not resolved. At the back of those issues, one of them has to do with technology and the advancements of technology and the fact that traditional jobs will become obsolete, that technology will replace a number of the jobs that we are currently engaged in.”

 

Hunte added that Barbados was on the brink of a new era “and it’s imperative that we embrace innovative solutions that promote environmental sustainability”.

 

“Green technology offers us the opportunity to create jobs to stimulate economic growth and reduce our carbon footprint by investing in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and eco-friendly manufacturing processes. We are not only safeguarding our planet but also ensuring a prosperous future for generations to come,” he said.

(SZB)