WWViews on Biodiversity
On Saturday September 15th 2012, thousands of people around the world took part in a global event: “World Wide Views on Biodiversity”. The project engaged ordinary citizens in 25 countries in the process of policymaking and awareness raising to sustain a living and healthy planet. About hundred citizens in each participating country attended day-long meetings to learn about biodiversity issues, make up their minds about them, and express their views. The meetings started at dawn in the Pacific and continue until dusk in the Americas. All meetings had the same agenda and used the same approach in order to make results comparable and useful for policymakers gathered in October 2012 in India to discuss future policy measures for preserving biological diversity.
The CARIBBEAN YOUTH ENVIRONMENT NETWORK (C.Y.E.N) is the national organiser of the WWViews day in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
CARIBBEAN YOUTH ENVIRONMENT NETWORK (St.Vincent Chapter).
The Caribbean Youth Environment Network is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of Caribbean young people by facilitating their personal development and promoting their full involvement in all matters pertaining to the environment and sustainable development. The organization promotes education and training, Caribbean integration and community empowerment as tools to develop an ethic amongst young people that assists in the conservation and protection of natural resources within the Wider Caribbean.
CYEN is a registered non-profit and non-governmental charitable body (Registered Charity No.507 – Barbados) that has members and affiliates in fifteen Caribbean territories. Since its establishment in 1992, the Network has coordinated or participated in a number of activities and projects at the national, regional and international levels. Significantly, the Network has frequently sourced and financed short-term training scholarships for youth to attend leadership and other training courses. Beyond this the Network has been actively involved in advocacy as well as environmental education and public awareness programmes. CYEN frequently represents the position of Caribbean youth at regional and international meetings. It is undoubtedly the largest youth environment network in the Caribbean. The motto of the Network is “Unity, Strength, Purpose”.
For more information on CYEN and its activities,this is the link to our main website (CYEN).
WWViews Venue
The WWViews citizen meeting will take place in Wesley Hall in the Methodist Church Hall building, Kingstown.
Results from the meeting in St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Link to the results from the meeting in St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Citizen recruitment for the meeting in St. Vincent & the Grenadines
How were potential participants found?
To get in contact with potential participants, the following strategies were used:
Members of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network were responsible for inviting at least five persons. These five persons were then advised to use the snow sampling method to invite others.
Invitation letters were sent to approximately eighty citizens in the country via different secondary schools, as well as work and business places with a call to take part in the WWViews meeting on September 15.
People were invited via Face-to-Face recruitment in different areas following certain demographic parameters. Emails were also sent and used to spread the word to various community groups and NGOs.
The citizen meeting was advertised in different media like the via the National Broadcasting Corporation radio station, the Agency for Public Information (Tv), and Facebook (Social Media). Interested people were able to sign up via internet by answering a brief questionnaire about personal details and their background.
How were the participants for the citizen meeting selected?
In order to make the results comparable, the participating citizens of the WWViews meeting around the world were selected according to the same set of criteria.
The main parameters used for the selection were age, gender, residence, education level and occupation.
Find more photos from the meeting in St. Vincent & the Grenadines on Flickr
Documentary on the process and the results of World Wide Views on Biodiversity
Information Material for Citizens
World Wide Views on Biodiversity – Information Videos for the Citizens – English
1. Introduction to biodiversity, 2. Biodiversity on land, 3. Biodiversity in the sea, 4. Burden and Benefit Sharing