Nassau Leaders Partner on Cape Eleuthera for Environment and Education

Chamber of Commerce Leaders with Chris Maxey - Director, Cape Eleuthera Foundation, Co-Founder

(Cape Eleuthera, Eleuthera)—The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce (BCOC) visited The Island School and Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI) on Tuesday November 18th to attend an exhibition on sustainability and leadership. The gathering was the brainchild of BCOC President Dioniso D’Aguilar who thought that business leaders should be made more aware of what is happening at Cape Eleuthera and opportunities for Bahamian students in environmental education.

“All those who attended were truly impressed with what you have done in Eleuthera,” Mr. D’Aguilar commented, “The opportunities that you provide kids to study hard, swim or run hard, and reconnect with the environment and the community around them is incredibly impressive.”

Business Leaders on tour

“Island School is piloting techniques that are so relevant to today's world and to our future,” explained Yvette Sands of Bacardi and BCOC director and head of newly formed Energy & Environment Committee, “I was especially pleased with their use of renewable energy sources for power, reuse efforts with trees and waste, and for restoring the mangroves which have been a largely overlooked area damaged during construction and development.”

 
Karla Cosgriff explains Aquaponics Systems

Guests toured the sustainable systems used on campus, and met with Island School students who presented their conclusions from their semester-long research projects on topics including sharks, diadema, aquaculture, aquaponics, waste resources, archeology, bonefish, and patch reefs. The students in the Bahamas Environmental Steward Scholars (BESS) Program answered questions about their experience at The Island School. Bradley Watson, a BESS student from Nassau remarked, “By getting out and learning more about Eleuthera I know more about The Bahamas. Now I can help my country in the future.”

 
Students present their research

The high point of the day included a round-table discussion about what business leaders could do to promote the work of The Island School and CEI and how they could implement some of the green systems they saw in use around our campus. The main topics discussed:

• The role of business in promoting responsible development

• Renewable energy options in The Bahamas

• Construction methods using invasive casuarina, green roofs and waste water recycling

• Sustainable food production to raise fish and greens through aquaponics and aquaculture systems

• Partnering to expand intern and educational opportunities for young Bahamians

 
Afternoon round-table discussions

The event proved to be inspiring to all in attendance as BCOC representatives and their business colleagues exchanged dialogue and brainstormed ways to support one another in solving current issues of economy and environment in The Bahamas.

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The Island School is a three-month semester leadership program for high school students.  Participants have come from over 300 schools to study the tropical marine environment and take place-based courses in math, history, English, and art. The Cape Eleuthera Institute is a marine research facility that works with universities to model sustainable systems and find solutions for resource management. For more information visit www.ceibahamas.org and www.islandschool.org.  Both programs are supported by the Cape Eleuthera Foundation.