86
respective communities/localities. The case demonstrated that the dissemination of knowledge
and action on CCA would enable scale to be
achieved quickly. It validated the importance of
adapting to the local policy context by engaging
the right local stakeholders in the implementation
of CCA projects.
The case also indicated that the investment
required to prepare a programme for implementation could be demanding for small community
organisations such as JEMS. However, despite
this situation, the case study demonstrated that if
an organisation invests sufficiently in building
the capacity of its youth, promotes the case for
CCA services at local/community levels and is
adaptable to the changing political and social
environment context, then funding can be mobilised to finance the initiative. The mobilisation of
funding was also supported by a resurgence of
interest by international development agencies
and practitioners to provide direct support to
community-led bottom-up development initiatives to build the capacity of communities to
implement community-based CCA actions
(McNamara and Buggy 2016; Jaja et al. 2016).
The project has contributed towards heightening the level of interest and enthusiasm of community residents across the country on the impact
of climate change and other aspects of environmental degradation on the island. Due to the
enhanced high visibility of the JEMS’ bottom-up
approach, the government has now mobilised
financial resources from donors and prepared the
terms of reference for consultants to (a) develop a
national policy on climate change and (b) integrate climate change education into the education
curriculum.
The enhancement of the capacity of the youth
has led to an increase in the participation of the
youth and their communities in CCA activities. It
has also led to higher levels of environmental activism among youth and community leaders across
the island. Another positive outcome is the community meetings between youth and community
leaders and their parliamentary representatives to
discuss strategies for tackling the specific climate
hazard vulnerability affecting their community.
Lesson Learned from the JEMS
Initiative
The project provided a model for the contribution
of the bottom-up approach to capacity building of
the youth to enhance their resilience to adapt to
the impact of climate change in SIDS. The case
study demonstrated that a community-led bottom- up approach to CCA is deemed to be more
successful than a top-down approach because it is
(a) more flexible to implement, (b) less controlled
by external agencies/partners and governments
and (c) more relevant to the development context
of the vulnerability of the local area (Adger et al.
2005; Stachowiak et al. 2016).
In relationship to the work of JEMS, the case
study demonstrated that when an organisation is
grounded and prepared to engage and listen to the
views and concerns of the local community, especially the youth, and possesses the capacity and
supporting infrastructure to develop programmes
based on the needs of its constituents, it will be
more capable of expanding its programme to
deliver valuable services to the broader community (Cloutier et al. 2018). Although JEMS is
based on the south-east of St. Vincent, the organisation has used its infrastructure and communityoriented practices to expand its programme to
support communities across SVG. Organisations
like JEMS have a better success rate of delivering
CCA projects when they are working in partnership with other development partners to provide
programmes (Jaja et al. 2016; Cloutier et al.
2018).
Reflection of the JEMS Case Study
A SWOT analysis was utilised to assess the performance of the JEMS “capacity building for
youth to adapt to climate change” project.
There is no doubt that the lessons learned and
strategies implemented have relevance to the
effectiveness of using the bottom-up approach to
develop and implement capacity-building programmes and provide knowledge and skills to the
youth, thereby enabling them to build resilience
5 The Calm After the Storm: Island Perspective on the Application…
respective communities/localities. The case demonstrated that the dissemination of knowledge
and action on CCA would enable scale to be
achieved quickly. It validated the importance of
adapting to the local policy context by engaging
the right local stakeholders in the implementation
of CCA projects.
The case also indicated that the investment
required to prepare a programme for implementation could be demanding for small community
organisations such as JEMS. However, despite
this situation, the case study demonstrated that if
an organisation invests sufficiently in building
the capacity of its youth, promotes the case for
CCA services at local/community levels and is
adaptable to the changing political and social
environment context, then funding can be mobilised to finance the initiative. The mobilisation of
funding was also supported by a resurgence of
interest by international development agencies
and practitioners to provide direct support to
community-led bottom-up development initiatives to build the capacity of communities to
implement community-based CCA actions
(McNamara and Buggy 2016; Jaja et al. 2016).
The project has contributed towards heightening the level of interest and enthusiasm of community residents across the country on the impact
of climate change and other aspects of environmental degradation on the island. Due to the
enhanced high visibility of the JEMS’ bottom-up
approach, the government has now mobilised
financial resources from donors and prepared the
terms of reference for consultants to (a) develop a
national policy on climate change and (b) integrate climate change education into the education
curriculum.
The enhancement of the capacity of the youth
has led to an increase in the participation of the
youth and their communities in CCA activities. It
has also led to higher levels of environmental activism among youth and community leaders across
the island. Another positive outcome is the community meetings between youth and community
leaders and their parliamentary representatives to
discuss strategies for tackling the specific climate
hazard vulnerability affecting their community.
Lesson Learned from the JEMS
Initiative
The project provided a model for the contribution
of the bottom-up approach to capacity building of
the youth to enhance their resilience to adapt to
the impact of climate change in SIDS. The case
study demonstrated that a community-led bottom- up approach to CCA is deemed to be more
successful than a top-down approach because it is
(a) more flexible to implement, (b) less controlled
by external agencies/partners and governments
and (c) more relevant to the development context
of the vulnerability of the local area (Adger et al.
2005; Stachowiak et al. 2016).
In relationship to the work of JEMS, the case
study demonstrated that when an organisation is
grounded and prepared to engage and listen to the
views and concerns of the local community, especially the youth, and possesses the capacity and
supporting infrastructure to develop programmes
based on the needs of its constituents, it will be
more capable of expanding its programme to
deliver valuable services to the broader community (Cloutier et al. 2018). Although JEMS is
based on the south-east of St. Vincent, the organisation has used its infrastructure and communityoriented practices to expand its programme to
support communities across SVG. Organisations
like JEMS have a better success rate of delivering
CCA projects when they are working in partnership with other development partners to provide
programmes (Jaja et al. 2016; Cloutier et al.
2018).
Reflection of the JEMS Case Study
A SWOT analysis was utilised to assess the performance of the JEMS “capacity building for
youth to adapt to climate change” project.
There is no doubt that the lessons learned and
strategies implemented have relevance to the
effectiveness of using the bottom-up approach to
develop and implement capacity-building programmes and provide knowledge and skills to the
youth, thereby enabling them to build resilience
5 The Calm After the Storm: Island Perspective on the Application…