News Releases

UWI Survey on Climate Change and Livelihoods in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

For Release Upon Receipt - April 23, 2014

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad & Tobago – The Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) of The University of the West Indies (The UWI) St Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago in collaboration with the Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC), Venice, Italy, and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), Belize, will be conducting a survey to determine the potential impact of climate change, through the effect it has on the supply of and demand for freshwater, on the exposure, sensitivity and vulnerability of the livelihoods of communities in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  The project is called CASCADE (Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for Water Resources and Human Livelihoods in the Coastal Zones of Small Island Developing States) and commences on April 28, 2014.  

Professor Patrick Watson, Director of SALISES at the St. Augustine Campus said that the project aims to understand household views on environmental issues affecting the community and the survey results will provide guidance for future public awareness programmes and policy development. He added that the knowledge obtained will also allow government agencies, NGOs and community groups to take appropriate measures to adapt to and, hopefully, minimize the negative impacts identified, which will be to the benefit of all the citizens of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 

The local community is advised that Research Administrators with visibly-displayed name badges will be visiting households in all areas of St. Vincent and the Northern Grenadines from April 28th – June 8th 2014. The questionnaire will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Professor Watson said “We believe that the results of this exercise will be of critical importance to individuals and their families and responses will be treated in the strictest confidence. We do sincerely appreciate the help of community members in participating in this survey.” 

EndAbout The UWI 

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 50,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding Higher Education Institute (HEI) in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation.  

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.) 

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