85
art forms were used as media during these wakes.
Between 60% and 80% of the population of these
communities actively engaged in these “cultural
wake” activities by singing popular environmental songs, reciting famous dub poetry, beating
African drums or clapping out the rhythms and
chanting songs (McNamara and Buggy 2016;
Cloutier et al. 2018).
A similar number of residents participated in
community projects. Besides benefiting from the
various CCA activities, permanent relationships
were built among the residents of the community
(Cloutier et al. 2018). Support was also mobilised
from government agencies and other civil society
organisations to participate in the project, thus
expanding the bottom-up approach into a hybrid
approach (OECD 2013; Stachowiak et al. 2016).
Outcomes of the JEMS Initiative
Generally, the project has demonstrated the effectiveness of the bottom-up approach as a viable
alternative to current capacity development training projects. It shows that when the youth are
empowered through programmes to develop their
capacity to build their resilience to adapt to climate change, they can be successful in providing
the leadership to implement positive and beneficial bottom-up CCA programmes within their
Table 5.2 A comparison of outcomes of the conventional top-down training and bottom-up capacity-building
initiative
Criteria
Conventional training model
Bottom-up approach
Selection of
participants
Government official selects
participants randomly
Local leaders recommend participants based on a set
of criteria. Participants are assessed according to the
criteria to ensure that they have an interest in the
training that will be provided and be able to use the
skills and knowledge gained
Level of
involvement of
local community
No participation in the local
community in the selection of the
participant. This is done centrally by
officials
Full participation of the local community in
recommending the youth to participate in the training
which involves sitting on committees to interview the
youth and select participants in the capacity-building
exercise
Methodology
Mainly “chalk and talk” lectures and,
to some extent, the use of technology
to assist the trainer with his/her
presentation
The utilisation of a range of participatory strategies
and technologies to support the delivery of training
content. Provision of opportunities for the youth to
manipulate the technology and other devices during
the training
Role of
participants
Mainly passive reception to
knowledge and content from the
trainer/presenter
Active participation in field exercises in the
community, working in groups and facilitating small
group exercises
Sustainability
Less likely to retain skills and
knowledge for an extended period
after the training is delivered
Longer retention of knowledge and skills. The youth
are more likely to transfer knowledge and skills to
others and are more likely to use the knowledge and
skills to benefit other areas of their daily life, e.g. job
and family
Distribution of
the benefits
Mainly benefit the participants
themselves
More likely to benefit the group, the youth and the
broader community. The youth utilise the skills in
project preparation training to access funding. They
also use their community mobilisation skills to
mobilise residents from communities to participate in
CCA projects distributed across the island
Monitoring and
evaluation
feedback
Not much emphasis is placed on
monitoring and evaluation of the
outcomes of the capacity
development activity. Participants
may be asked to fill in a feedback
form to submit to the organisers
Participants are encouraged to build indicators to
enable them to monitor the performance of their
capacity-building CCA project. This is done in
partnership with the rest of the group/community
Outcomes of the JEMS Initiative
art forms were used as media during these wakes.
Between 60% and 80% of the population of these
communities actively engaged in these “cultural
wake” activities by singing popular environmental songs, reciting famous dub poetry, beating
African drums or clapping out the rhythms and
chanting songs (McNamara and Buggy 2016;
Cloutier et al. 2018).
A similar number of residents participated in
community projects. Besides benefiting from the
various CCA activities, permanent relationships
were built among the residents of the community
(Cloutier et al. 2018). Support was also mobilised
from government agencies and other civil society
organisations to participate in the project, thus
expanding the bottom-up approach into a hybrid
approach (OECD 2013; Stachowiak et al. 2016).
Outcomes of the JEMS Initiative
Generally, the project has demonstrated the effectiveness of the bottom-up approach as a viable
alternative to current capacity development training projects. It shows that when the youth are
empowered through programmes to develop their
capacity to build their resilience to adapt to climate change, they can be successful in providing
the leadership to implement positive and beneficial bottom-up CCA programmes within their
Table 5.2 A comparison of outcomes of the conventional top-down training and bottom-up capacity-building
initiative
Criteria
Conventional training model
Bottom-up approach
Selection of
participants
Government official selects
participants randomly
Local leaders recommend participants based on a set
of criteria. Participants are assessed according to the
criteria to ensure that they have an interest in the
training that will be provided and be able to use the
skills and knowledge gained
Level of
involvement of
local community
No participation in the local
community in the selection of the
participant. This is done centrally by
officials
Full participation of the local community in
recommending the youth to participate in the training
which involves sitting on committees to interview the
youth and select participants in the capacity-building
exercise
Methodology
Mainly “chalk and talk” lectures and,
to some extent, the use of technology
to assist the trainer with his/her
presentation
The utilisation of a range of participatory strategies
and technologies to support the delivery of training
content. Provision of opportunities for the youth to
manipulate the technology and other devices during
the training
Role of
participants
Mainly passive reception to
knowledge and content from the
trainer/presenter
Active participation in field exercises in the
community, working in groups and facilitating small
group exercises
Sustainability
Less likely to retain skills and
knowledge for an extended period
after the training is delivered
Longer retention of knowledge and skills. The youth
are more likely to transfer knowledge and skills to
others and are more likely to use the knowledge and
skills to benefit other areas of their daily life, e.g. job
and family
Distribution of
the benefits
Mainly benefit the participants
themselves
More likely to benefit the group, the youth and the
broader community. The youth utilise the skills in
project preparation training to access funding. They
also use their community mobilisation skills to
mobilise residents from communities to participate in
CCA projects distributed across the island
Monitoring and
evaluation
feedback
Not much emphasis is placed on
monitoring and evaluation of the
outcomes of the capacity
development activity. Participants
may be asked to fill in a feedback
form to submit to the organisers
Participants are encouraged to build indicators to
enable them to monitor the performance of their
capacity-building CCA project. This is done in
partnership with the rest of the group/community
Outcomes of the JEMS Initiative