Theresa Tolulope Gbenro young climate activist and the recipient of the Small Grant from the Nigeria Youth Futures Fund partnered with a civil society in Ilorin, Kwara State Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI) to train teachers and advocates on climate education, on October 25th 2023.
The event featured the launch of the Climate Champs flashcards, an informal education material for later primary and early secondary students. .The workshop which was held at dHub, in Tanke area, Ilorin, taught teachers from across twenty-four secondary schools in Kwara State and was attended to by representatives from the Kwara State Ministry of Environment.
Tolulope, during her welcome remarks emphasized the importance of tools like the flashcards and the importance of juvenile climate awareness.
Mr. Olasupo Abideen, the global director of BBYDI while launching the climate flashcards and ironing out the program framework for the project said the organizers would follow up with teachers over the next few months to guage success, collect reports, and share further opportunities.
“We are setting out to teach teachers how to teach their students about climate change,” said Latifat Odunuga, a PhD student of Community Psychology at Fielding Graduate University, California U.S.A, while giving her session on how teachers can break down concepts on climate change for their students.
Teachers also received their copies of the climate champion flashcards and shared ideas on how to adapt the project to the specific needs of their institutions.
“The end goal of this,” Abideen says, “is to ensure young children in the state are more aware of climate issues and low barrier mitigations they can act on.”
Attendees also asked questions around climate solutions and other challenges concerning waste disposal. Representatives from the state ministry of education were able to give response concerning the intricacies of waste disposal in the state and recommend implementation plans for the teachers.
“We need to collectively take action to improve the climate trajectory,” Mr Umar Yusuf, a representative of the Kwara State Ministry of Environment said.
