SUNDAY 11 JUNE, 2017 – UWI TODAY
15
CAMPUS NEWS
The UWI’s Open Day
, held on May 28, would have revived a lot of old
memories if older alumni had formed the majority of the attendees. So
many things have happened over the years at the JFK Quadrangle!
But the Open Day was a gesture to prospective applicants. So
recruitment officers and faculty members came out to lend some guidance
to the process, which was made even simpler with guidance about financial
opportunities (for making it through the study period, not for jobs!)
The UWI offers many scholarships and bursaries to students annually
through its Division of Student Services and Development (DSSD). Such
funding is also available to first-year students and post-graduates.
C i t i e s i n Sma l l I s l a n d
Developing States (SIDS)
are
highly vulnerable to climate
change impacts, especially sea
level rise and flooding. With
the growing possibility that the
1.5 degree Celsius target may
be surpassed despite the Paris
Climate Change Agreement
to keep global temperature from rising beyond 1.5
degree Celsius, Caribbean SIDS will need to defend their
populations and infrastructure against flooding and more
frequent natural hazards.
According to Dr. Michelle Mycoo, Senior Lecturer
in the Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land
Management, the Faculty of Engineering and lead author
of the study, A Blue Urban Agenda: Adapting to Climate
Change in the Coastal Cities of Caribbean and Pacific Small
Island Developing States, an estimated 4.2 million people in
Climate Changes Affect Us First
Caribbean in the frontline
It was a good day
to be UWI
SIDS in the Caribbean and in the Pacific are living in areas
that are prone to flooding due to rising sea levels. These
countries have leveraged nearly US$800 million in green
climate funding to support coastal resilience.
“Caribbean and Pacific coastal cities are on the
frontlines of climate change,” says Dr. Michael G. Donovan,
senior urban specialist at the IDB and co-author of the study.
“It is critical to adapt and improve the resilience of cities in
coastal zones, especially those SIDS that are experiencing
rapid urbanization and are low-lying,” said Dr. Mycoo.
The international community has responded by
providing US$55.6 billion in aid and private sector flows
to Caribbean and Pacific SIDS over the last 20 years. These
programmes have included coastal engineering to protect
cities fromflooding and coastal erosion, wetland restoration,
coral reef conservation and watershed rehabilitation, urban
planning and the enforcement of coastal setbacks and flood-
resistant building codes.
The study reviewed 50 projects financed by the IDB,
Dr. Michelle Mycoo is a Senior Lecturer & Urban Planner in the Department of Geomatics Engineering & Land Management, UWI, St. Augustine
World Bank, Asian Development Bank and others, and the
efforts made by Caribbean and Pacific SIDS to implement
adaptation strategies aimed at reducing vulnerability and
enhancing sustainability. It shows an increasing emphasis
on urban governance and institutional capacity building
within city planning agencies.
It includes several policy recommendations for cities,
including improving coastal planning, land reclamation,
coastal setbacks, enforcement of building codes, climate-
proofing infrastructure, mangrove reforestation, and coastal
surveying and monitoring.
“Caribbean and Pacific coastal cities are on the front
lines of the response to climate change and are pioneering
innovative approaches to respond to coastal transformation.
Much can be learned from these cities in the way they are
adapting to sea level rise, flooding and natural hazards. The
Caribbean region has now become a reference for how cities
should protect population and urban assets, including port
cities and human settlement,” says Dr. Mycoo.
