Niagara College will help increase access to training resources focused on sustainable tourism and climate change adaptation through a newly awarded consultancy contract entitled “Consultancy for Curriculum Development and to Build an Online Training Platform, supporting the Climate Smart and Sustainable Caribbean Tourism Industry (CSSCTI) Project.”
The contract was awarded to NC by the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), with cooperation and technical assistance from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and is geared towards tourism industry stakeholders across the Caribbean.
The two-month project will involve capacity building, institutional strengthening, as well as enhancing skills training and competencies in the area of sustainable tourism.
“Niagara College is well positioned to support this project due to its expertise in environment, tourism and education,” shared NC Global Education and Partnership’s project officer, Rebecca Koudys. “As outlined in Niagara College’s Sustainability Plan 2019 -2021, the College is committed to taking sustainability action at a global scale. This project engages three of the five priority areas identified in the plan: learning, climate action and community building.”
Niagara College was recognized as a top performer in the 2019 Sustainable Campus Index, which recognizes top-performing sustainable colleges and universities for overall performance, as well as in 17 impact areas measured by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS).
This project is significant for the Caribbean Region as its tourism industry generates a great number of jobs, foreign direct investment and foreign exchange, highly impacting sustainable development and poverty reduction. Therefore, the tourism industry has a strong influence on the overall social and economic development of the Region and for many countries within the Caribbean, tourism is crucial for the survival of their economies. More information on tourism in the Caribbean can be found at onecaribbean.org/statistics/annual-reviews-prospects/.
Due to climate variability and climate change, natural hazards and extreme weather events are among the most significant challenges faced by the Caribbean Region and its impacts are projected to intensify in the coming years. These challenges pose a significant risk to human and social life, threatening the Caribbean’s 2030 sustainable development agenda.
This project supports the Caribbean’s goal of reducing the Region’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change by focusing on the tourism industry – a driving force with positive contributions to socio-economic development and regional growth.
Niagara College will support the production of training materials and the development of an online training platform linked to the CTO’s website. In the form of self-paced webinars, these training materials will seek to deepen industry stakeholders’ understanding of topics such as disaster risk management/reduction and climate change adaptation.
Through this initiative, NC will continue to support the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which outlines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Developing skills training programs focused on SDG 13, climate action, this project will also target SDG four, quality education, and SDG eight, decent work and economic growth.
Recent connections have been made between the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, as global health emergencies that both require a need for cooperative action and preventative measures. With an online delivery methodology that adheres to physical distancing measures, this project has not been impacted by the pandemic and comes at a time when tourism industries around the world are experiencing an extreme economic decline and are in need of support.
Niagara College looks forward to offering its continued global collaboration in support of economic development, climate action and quality education. NC has been involved in global development projects for more than 25 years and has a strong history of supporting education and tourism projects in the Caribbean including Jamaica, Grenada and Saint Lucia.
More information on Global Education and Partnerships and how to get involved in global education projects, can be found at ncglobal.ca/getinvolved/.
