Building communities that are resilient to disaster risks and climate change effects

(UNICEF) Climate change impacts the lives and livelihoods of everybody worldwide, including here in Sri Lanka. As a climate change hotspot, the island nation experiences frequent, extreme weather conditions including floods, landslides, and droughts, causing considerable economic setbacks.

The country’s main export crop, tea, bears the brunt of these weather conditions. Spread across over 200,000 hectares in the mountainous regions of Sri Lanka’s Central, Uva, and Sabaragamuwa Provinces and the in-lands of the Southern Province, the tea plantations are exposed to the harsh and extreme weather pattern changes caused by climate change, affecting the productivity and quality of the tea harvest.

The one million plus population that lives on these estates and depends on the tea sector for sustenance, is not spared either.  Identified as one of the most vulnerable populations in the country, the estate communities particularly face climate-induced risks such as sudden and extreme changes in weather patterns. The consequences of these include damage to their meagre estate dwellings due to landslides, disruption of children’s schooling, and the daily tea plucking.

To build resilience amongst the plantation community to climate-induced risks, in June 2023, UNICEF engaged with 130 children living in the tea estates to teach them about climate change, the changing weather patterns and how they can minimize their risks. UNICEF partnered with Kelani Valley Plantations Ltd. (KVLP) – a leading tea and rubber manufacturer in Sri Lanka that owns and manages 25 estates spread across 13,000 hectares, and Gavesha Labs (Pvt) Ltd – an organization that develops supplementary educational tools for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning, for this initiative.

KVLP facilitated the participation of children living in Pedro Estate, Nuwara Eliya, through the child development centres (CDCs) of the eight estate divisions, and Gavesha brought in the technical capacity and the learning design through the WeatherKids STEM education programme to teach children about the climate and how they can use technology to protect it.

During workshops spread across three months, the Gavesha team empowered the children to take their first big step towards learning about the weather and climate change and explore a whole new world of technology and nature. For the learning exercise, 8 children’s clubs were formed under the CDCs they represented, and a mentor was assigned to each club.

Children worked in teams to learn to build a weather station, how to operate it to measure and track weather-related information, and how to use a mobile device to share information via a public open-source platform. They also learned about climate change, how it impacts their lives on the estates, and how tracking weather information can help them stay safe from severe weather.

Careers in climate change and communicating about the weather were also part of the programme.  Additionally, the programme used achievement badges and prizes to recognize and encourage their participation to gain a holistic, practical insight into a whole new world of weather and climate change.

By the end of the first workshop, each children’s club was a proud owner of a weather station. These Do-It-Yourself stations built by the children included the typical Stevenson Frame enclosing the sensors for temperature and humidity, air pressure, solar radiation monitoring; a manual rain gauge, and a solar panel to keep the station running.

“We built a weather station and learned how to use it to take readings. As a girl, I am happy I was able to take part in this,” says Banusha (15) who was part of an all-girls team from Lovers Leap Division, Pedro Estate. “We take readings regularly and provide our community with useful information about the weather.” Banusha also earned the achievement badge ‘Innovator’   for her participation in the programme.

“The WeatherKids programme is designed to engage children with nature and to teach them about climate change and the importance of monitoring weather patterns,” explains Ushan Chaminda, Lead Explorer of Gavesha Labs. “What we aim to provide is a unique learning experience a journey that allows kids to experience and understand climate challenges at a personal level.”

The Weatherkids programme is a first step towards empowering plantation communities with key skills to take action in what impacts their lives, livelihoods and future. Understanding the weather pattern changes in their surroundings and being part of a national community that monitors weather and contributes accurate weather data, the children gained a sense of ownership over their surroundings. Additionally, the learning was designed to provide  these youth with the knowledge to think beyond the limitations of their plantation community.

This innovative approach towards building climate-informed business communities that are resilient to climate-induced risks steps up private sector collaboration and sharing of responsibility in response to climate change and disaster.

“This is the first time a programme such as this has been initiated in the plantation sector. All our activities in the tea estates are centred around weather: rainfall, wind, and temperature which all play important roles in this business. This programme is therefore useful for the stakeholders,” explains Dilum Pathirana, General Manager, Pedro Estate.