This project was meant to train and impart skills to the executive and members of the NYC, therefore there was a training component for teachers and camp managers/mentors; a camp for students; and a school project which could be an energy, water or garbage audit.

A total of 47 young people (30 women and 17 men) were trained in various areas including team building, public speaking, understanding the SDGs, the role of men in society, women?s rights and feminism, conflict management and mediation, environmental protection, leadership and team dynamics, understanding the Nagoya Protocol, youth and student advocacy, climate action ? reducing your carbon footprint, project and event management, project proposal writing and environmental auditing.

During project implementation a total of 9 persons were employed (3 women and 9 men) as consultants and a bus driver and paid a total of US$2510 (US$226 ? women; US$2284 ? women).

The project had many components implemented through an experiential learning process which was resulted in significant learning.

This project could have been even more successful, if the planning process had begun at least six months earlier and there was a more equitable division of labour among the NYC membership. The evaluation report noted the following positive impacts:

? The Project promoted the ideals (the 6 C?s) of Positive Youth Development (PYD).3 In this
regard, the Project enhanced competence (the stability and motivation for civic and social
engagement among participants and beneficiaries), character development (having a sense of
responsibility, autonomy, and self-awareness of own personality or individuality), connection
(a sense of belonging and membership in a formal or informal group), confidence (a sense of
self-sufficiency, mastery, and of the future), caring (ability to form friendships and desire to
care for schools and community), and contribution (the desire to remain an active participant
and leadership to transform behaviour and increase the number of publics with a positive
outlook on the environment).

? An experiential approach to project design and implementation had a positive impact in that
the approach facilitated purposeful interaction with a variety of stakeholders who are keen
on finding solutions to the impact of climate change in schools and communities and how sustainable development of the country can be promoted. The Project enabled the SLNYC to establish new partnerships and coalitions as a result of the focus on the environment and other climate change impacts.

? The Project did not only focus on schools but embraced the need to pay attention to the
impact of climate change on communities. Initial efforts by the SLNYC under the Project in this
regard has contributed to a heightened awareness and the desire on the part of the residents in a community impacted negatively by the influx of sargassum seaweed on the coastline of the community. There is strong expectation that the SLNYC or some other entity will resume the intervention with a view to finding solutions to the problem currently facing the community.

The following are other impacts identified by the project evaluator:

Negative Impact

? There is one situation or experience which qualifies as a negative impact. One of the outputs of
the Project was the training of 65 student leaders equipped with the knowledge and skills
to effectively implement sustainable development projects in their respective schools and
communities. The intention was to increase the number of student councils taking
immediate action and number of councils engaged in advocacy. However, 35 student
leaders were trained. Furthermore, there is no account of the role of student councils per
say in the implementation of sustainable development projects. Environmental audits were
undertaken by 21 individual students in selected schools with the occasional support from
teachers who were trained at the LLS.

Intended Impact

? The Project did outline a number of statements regarding what specifically the SLNYC
was trying to achieve and to hold itself accountable. Several of the statements (goals,
objectives, outputs) were met and achieved the intended impact. For example, many of the
targets related to training were met thus contributing to achieving the overall outcome of
the Project. Another intended impact of the Project was the successful conduct of
environmental audits in selected secondary schools. The findings and recommendations
from the environmental audits contributed to the achievement of the project outcome,
outputs, and targets.

Unintended Impact

? Lack of support to student leaders by those teachers who were trained to provide support
ushered in some frustration among several of the student leaders who depended on
guidance from the teachers. It appears that not all teachers were able to fulfil them
overseeing function and the expected level of commitment because they were more
committed to their own regular and stipulated workload and did not have the time to play
their supporting role as effectively as envisaged.

Direct Impact

? The main direct impact of the Project was evident in the immediate access to knowledge
and skills during the various presentations by experts on topics including climate change,
environmental issues, environmental research and auditing, and sustainable development
goals. This was in keeping with the shifting the base line from a lack of environmental
consciousness and skills, to a situation in which participants and beneficiaries would
become more aware and be in a position to take positive action as collective stewards of
the environment in the long run. In addition, direct interaction with the schools to
undertake environmental audits during the Project supports the judgement that the
Final Report intervention had a direct impact on those student leaders who were in the forefront of this field activity.


Indirect impact

? The SLNYC has seen the need to incorporate a research agenda in future projects that
focuses on identifying solutions to climate change impacts on coastal communities. The
action to undertake the research at a later date contributed to a deficit in knowledge and
information, the availability of which would have supported the achievement of the project
outcome and improve the baseline. At the same time, the action underlines an intention to
engage in meaningful research in the foreseeable future.

Conclusion and Recommendation

It is concluded that despite the challenges encountered by the SLNYC in implementing the
Project, there are several positive impacts which justify the roll out of similar projects in the
future. However, due note should be taken of situations and experiences that provide lessons
learned for consideration in future roll outs.
It is recommended that future project designs should incorporate Theory of Change which outlines
the steps by which one can plan to achieve the goal of the Project. It helps define whether your
work is contributing towards achieving the impact you envision, and if there is another way that
needs to be considered as well. The Theory of Change tool not only helps to clearly articulate and
connect to the bigger goal, it also allows one to spot potential risks in the plan by sharing the
underlying assumptions in each step. This tool can also aid in aligning team members to the larger
end goal and help them understand their role in achieving it