–among opportunities that could be created locally by reputable Canadian company, ECO Canada

ENVIRONMENTAL training for Indigenous people and the introduction of new bachelors and masters programmes at the University of Guyana (UG) are among the key ideas put forward by ECO Canada and several Guyanese partners.

According to its website, ECO Canada is an online resource for environmental jobs, certification and training, established in 1992 as part of Canada’s sector-council initiative.
Dr. Yogendra Chaudhry, Vice-President of Professional Services at ECO Canada, in a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle shared the company’s plans to expand its environmental certification and training programmes to several Caribbean nations, with Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago being the first.

“We realised there are so many potentials and so many similarities between Canada and many Caribbean countries, especially regarding the environmental issues and the climate change,” Chaudhry said.

With over 30 years of experience providing environmental workforce development solutions, Chaudhry says ECO Canada will bring with it a host of expertise and knowledge to the Caribbean market.

“We identify competency gaps and we develop those competency requirements and identify industry trends, and we develop those resources which can be used by governments to support their economy,” he related.

Chaudhry oversees the development and delivery of professional services. He provides strategic insight and technical support for environmental and sustainability programmes.
Recent discussions were held with government officials, the University of Guyana (UG) and the National Toshaos Council (NTC).

According to Chaudhry, the Caribbean region is facing significant environmental challenges, including those related to climate change and unsustainable use of natural resources, and the need for trained individuals to tackle these issues.

Reflecting on discussions with local officials on those topics, he related: “We got really positive responses and we emphasised like for any country’s growing economy a sound and well prepared workforce is [the] first starting point.”

To address gaps in the environmental workforce, training programmes will be offered across several hinterland communities.

“One of our very successful programmes in Canada has been training and employment opportunities for Indigenous community members. In the last 30 years, we have graduated over 45,000 from more than 200 communities and most of these programmes are focused on providing the experience from learning and providing the students to be able to find a job in the environmental sector. Eighty per cent of the participants are meaningfully employed,” Chaudhry underscored.

He anticipates that a local partnership with Guyana will see the country’s environmental workforce being strengthened, further meeting the growing demand for sustainability and environmental stewardship internationally.

“We realise and understand that there is a need for strong values and focus between the environment and responsible development, and in order to help any industry grow we need a sound workforce… and that is where we see a lot of opportunities for Indigenous participants too for them to acquire those skills and work in the local projects,” Chaudhry said.

He went on to say: “One of the challenges that we hear from our industry is that students are graduating, but they lack skills and they often say that the students are not work-ready yet. So, we work with the local universities to make sure that the programmes offered comes in line with the labour market needs and so when students graduate they can meet the employer’s expectation.”