CONSERVATION International Guyana (CI Guyana), in collaboration with the British High Commission, has embarked on an education project aimed at raising awareness and changing attitudes towards the environment, biodiversity and climate change from the ground up. The project, which the British are funding to the tune of US$20,000, will seek to change the landscape of education in Guyana with the inclusion of climate change and environmental matters as part of the school curricula.
The decision follows a rapid assessment, conducted by CI two years ago of where young Guyanese stood in terms of their knowledge of environmental issues, which found them to be badly wanting in that department. 
As CI Guyana’s Capacity Building and Communications Coordinator, Mr. Rene Edwards observed Friday during a press conference at the organisation’s Laluni Street offices, knowledge and awareness of environmental matters are crucial to the country’s development, perhaps in a veiled reference to where the country is headed in terms of the Low-Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).
CI Guyana is working along with the Ministry of Education, the Government partner in this instance, on the implementation of the project, and the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) will be the agency through which the project will be rolled out into the education system.
A component of the project, Edwards said, will see the production of a DVD series on climate change, biodiversity and the environment. The project will also entail the publication of a resource book on the subjects at reference as part of the deliverables.
British High Commissioner (Ag), Mr.  Simon Bond said the Mission was pleased to be associated with the project, and that CI Guyana is a professional and effective organization that is doing a lot of important work in Guyana. He said that the project very much fits in with where the British stand on matters of climate change and the environment.
Bond noted that there is a gap between what is taking place in the international arena in terms of the negotiations and other work, and the knowledge and awareness that people have of these subjects. He said that what is happening internationally is indeed very technical and is usually couched in complex vocabulary, noting that the subject of climate change itself is one that is complex.
He said that the British Government is close to Guyana on a lot of these issues and expressed the hope that there is progress on REDD plus. “These positions have to be brought a lot closer to the people,” he said. He said that “all of us” can play a part in terms of daily activities and in terms of awareness and advocacy.
Bond noted that climate change is not something that will go away in a few years. “This will be with us for the foreseeable future,” he said. Bond added that with the implementation of the project, information will go across in a clear and practical way. He said that the introduction of the subjects in the school system will “hardwire the next generation.”
Meanwhile, CI Guyana’s Executive Director, Dr. David Singh has announced that the organization will, on September 4, be doing a global launch of its new logo in recognition of the interconnection between human wellbeing and biodiversity and that this is a subject that needs to have a face. Further, he said that influencing the decision to change the logo was the recognition that even as the earth’s ecosystems become more and more compromised, resources are becoming scarcer.