Exchange: Using Community Ambassadors for Community Exchange on Renewable Biogas Energy Generation from Wastewater for Sustainable Development

Barbados is a small island state at a low elevation level and is considered to be a vulnerable country as the effects of climate change become more pronounced. To mitigate the carbon output of the Barbados Water Authority (BWA), the Authority has started to generate its own electricity from solar photovoltaic technology. The BWA Wastewater Division (WWD) has the capacity to generate biogas as a form of renewable energy to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions from the two wastewater treatment plants. In order to achieve this, however, it will be necessary to raise awareness of renewable energy technology among the general population of Barbados. This exchange will train six Renewable Energy Community Ambassadors to undertake the critical task of educating communities in Barbados. The exchange will provide training for the Ambassadors through classroom workshops, technical sessions and site visits. The ambassadors, by interacting with citizens at community level and delivering public seminars and presentations, will engage with a broad spectrum of communities. These will include primary and secondary school students and young persons like themselves in youth and community groups who are strong change agents for the further development of renewable energy technology in Barbados.