By David Noncent
A scientific café to understand climate change
Imagine a time when students and scientists meet together around a subject that concerns everyone's future: "the climate to share their concern, vision and knowledge". This is exactly what the CAFECLIMAT project proposes, an innovative initiative launched by the Research Team on Climate Change (ERC2) at Quisqueya University (UniQ).
Why does Haiti need to talk about the climate?
Haiti faces major climate challenges. Temperatures rise, rainy seasons arrive later than before, and hurricanes become more frequent and violent (Singh & Cohen, 2014; Noncent et al., 2023). These upheavals are not without consequences: agriculture suffers, water becomes scarcer, vector diseases such as dengue and malaria spread more, and marine ecosystems deteriorate.
The country is among the most vulnerable island States to extreme weather events (IPCC, 2021). Faced with this alarming reality, education appears to be a powerful tool to encourage behavioural change and enable citizens to make informed decisions. Recent scientific research has helped to reconstruct the history of the Haitian climate over the last thousand years, confirming the trends observed today (Noncent et al., 2023). These scientific data are essential to understand the extent of the changes under way.
The concept: scientific cafes accessible to all
The CAFECLIMAT project, led by the Research Team on Climate Change (ERC2) of Quisqueya University, aims to raise awareness among young Haitians, especially high school students, of climate issues through a modern and interactive approach.
How does it work?
The programme is based on several pillars:
- An educational manual : A complete manual will be developed in French and distributed free of charge to students. This manual will address the key themes: nature of climate change, its causes, mechanisms and challenges to Haiti.
- Lectures in schools : Expert scientists travel to schools to interact directly with students from grades 1 to 4. These meetings allow young people to ask questions and understand the mechanisms of climate change.
- Adapted audiovisual content : Educational videos, infographics and video clips will be produced specifically to describe different aspects of Haitian reality. These content will be broadcast on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram to reach as many young people as possible where they are.
Ambitious and concrete objectives
Beyond the mere transmission of information, CAFECLIMAT aims to:
- Improving young people's knowledge of the global and Haitian climate;
- Create a youth club committed to combating climate change;
- Establish a network of schools mobilized around climate education;
- Reaching a critical mass of young schoolchildren among the Haitian population through social networks.
A sustainable and innovative approach
The strength of this project lies in its sustainability. The videos and content produced will remain permanently accessible on digital platforms, creating *a library of lifelong educational resources. This will train not only current students, but also future generations.
Moreover, using social networks, the project goes beyond school walls to engage the whole community in a collective reflection on the environment and climate action.
A necessary dialogue between science and society
CAFECLIMAT embodies a simple but essential philosophy: scientific knowledge must come out of laboratories to meet the public, especially the young people who will be the actors of change. By making science accessible, fun and rooted in local reality, this project opens the way to a true culture of climate awareness in Haiti.
Scientists have a responsibility to share their knowledge. Young people have the right to understand the challenges facing their country and their planet. CAFECLIMAT is this bridge between these two worlds, a space where dialogue replaces indifference, and where knowledge becomes the first step towards action.
The CAFECLIMAT project is coordinated by David Noncent of the Climate Change Research Team and funded by the BRH (Bank of the Republic of Haiti) Fund for Research and Development. For more information or to participate in the project, you can follow the Facebook and YouTube pages dedicated to the project that will soon be available.
References
Cohen, M. J., & Singh, B. (2014). Climate change resilience: The case of Haiti. Oxfam International.
IPCC (IPCC). (2021). Summary for Policymakers. In: Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pirani, A., Connors, S. L., Péan, C., Berger, S., Caud, N., Chen, Y., Goldfarb, L., Gomis, M. I., Huang, M., Leitzell, K., Lonnoy, E., Matthews, J. B. R., Maycock, T. K., Waterfield, T., Yelekçi, O., Yu, R. and Zhou, B. (eds.) Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basin. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, pp. 3-32.
Noncent, D., Sifeddine, A., Emmanuel, E., Cormier, M.-H., Briceño-Zuluaga, F. J., Mendez-Millan, M., Turcq, B., Caquineau, S., Valdés, J., Bernal, J. P., King, J. W., Djouraev, I., Cetin, F., & Sloan, H. (2023). Hydroclimate reconstruction during the last 1000 years inferred from the mineralological and geochemical composition of a sediment core from Lake-Azuei(Haiti). The Holocene, 33(7), 816-826. https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836231163512
David NOCENT
Climate Change Research Team (ERC2)
