The Caribbean region faces a convergence of environmental, social, and economic challenges arising from climate change, resource depletion, environmental degradation, and increasing developmental pressures. As small island developing states (SIDS), Caribbean nations are particularly vulnerable to these challenges, which directly threaten livelihoods, infrastructure resilience, food and energy security, and long-term economic sustainability. Against this backdrop, education systems must evolve to equip learners with the knowledge, skills, values, and ethical frameworks required to respond effectively to these realities.

The project “The Mainstreaming of ‘Greening’ Learning Concepts in the Educational Curriculum of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC)” was conceived as a strategic educational intervention to address this imperative. Its central rationale lies in the recognition that environmental sustainability cannot be treated as a peripheral or optional topic, but must be systematically embedded across curricula as a core organising principle of learning, assessment, and skills development.

Education as a Catalyst for Sustainable Development

Engineering, science, and technology play a decisive role in shaping environmental outcomes. Every technical decision—from material selection and energy use to infrastructure design and waste management—carries environmental, social, and economic consequences. Traditional engineering and production paradigms have often prioritised efficiency and growth without adequate consideration of long-term ecological impacts. In contrast, “greening” learning concepts emphasise sustainability, life-cycle thinking, resource efficiency, and ethical responsibility as integral to decision-making.

By mainstreaming these concepts within the CXC curriculum, the project responds directly to the need for a new educational paradigm—one that aligns learning with sustainable development goals and prepares students to engage critically with real-world environmental challenges. The CAPE Green Engineering framework exemplifies this shift by integrating sustainability principles, industrial ecology, and systems thinking into formal secondary and post-secondary education

Partners

CARICOM Secretariat, GIZ REETA, CXC