Climate Justice in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic faces many challenges related to climate change and its impacts, including rising sea levels, increased frequency and intensity of storms and hurricanes, coastal erosion, and loss of biodiversity. These impacts disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, including low-income communities, women, LGBTQ+, children, and disabled people who may have limited resources and specific challenges when adapting and coping with these changes.
Climate justice advocates on the island address systemic inequalities and social injustices that exacerbate climate vulnerability, such as poverty, gender inequality, and land tenure issues.
This program aims to build an inclusive scenario and capacity for young professionals, eligible students, and young community leaders working for a better future. We will connect the participants to other climate justice activists and movements that will enable them to expand their future career options and reach.
Problem We Are Trying to Solve
Many learning abroad programs lack the perspective that there is plenty that students can learn from how developing nations tackle their climate and infrastructure challenges.
Students of color travel abroad at much lower rates in comparison to their white peers. The challenges that they face are finances, cultural and family barriers, job schedules, and lack of knowledge of opportunities and resources
An Open Door report produced by the Institute of International Education demonstrates student enrollment in study abroad programs in the 2019/ 2020 school year
- 70% of white students and 67.4% of white females
- 10.6% of Latinx students
- 8.6% of Asian, Native Hawaiian, or other Pacific Islander students
- 5.5% of Black or African American students
- 4.8% of Multiracial students
- 0.5% of American Indian or Alaska Native students
Our Solutions
Closing the disparity by providing international networking and education opportunities that include tours, chats, workshops, and hands-on projects to ensure that students understand sustainability through an experiential service-learning travel to the Dominican Republic
Coordinating with local tourism businesses, NGOs, universities, and community groups and providing them with funds to cover the cost of programming, logistics, and equipment
Integrating the core competencies of social emotional learning, mindfulness and relaxation practices to provide anxiety reducing strategies, and providing employability and cross-cultural skills
About the Program
The Dominican Youth Climate and Sustainability Leadership Training is a unique experiential learning and capacity-building program for students who are engaged in SDG-related initiatives in sustainability and economic development. Globetrotting Dominicana aims to promote and strengthen engagement of youth and professionals in the sustainability space with the UN SDGs campaign, a goal identified as critical to achieving the SDGs.
Through travel, chats, tours, and connection with local businesses and non- profits the Globetrotting Dominicana provides a unique experience for sustainability experts and novices to connect with projects and people in the Dominican Republic. In particular:
- Be exposed to social good projects that use architecture, eco-design, renewable energy, waste treatment, water access, agro-forestry, and ecological restoration as vehicles to support sustainable development in the Dominican Republic;
- Learn about the intersection between culture, environment, and tourism in an international and multicultural environment;
- Learn about the climate change impacts on ecosystems and displaced communities\
- Network with local tour guides, small businesses, universities, non-profits, and grassroots groups, students, and professionals;
- Participate in hands on and physical field work and construction at project sites;
- Engage in fun ecotourism activities;
- Receive a certificate of participation in the program;
- Spend 10 days bonding with program participants and creating friendships
