In December, Okunlola Festus and Ogunwole Omotola, two Network members in Ibadan, Nigeria, training with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, worked with GreenWealth Agripreneurs, the institute’s agribusiness initiative, to invite institute participants to a #YALILearns session centered around the YALI Network Online Course, “Understanding Climate Change.”
Although they were unable to stream the course video during their #YALILearns session, they used the transcript and discussion guide from the “Resources” tab of each lesson to design a PowerPoint presentation. The presentation on climate change science and solutions was followed by a wide-ranging discussion.
“When the participants discussed how they contribute to climate change, they were all shocked that by spraying things like perfume or deodorant, they were contributing to climate change,” Festus said. “The majority of them committed to using deodorants and perfumes without the harmful aerosols.”
They also discussed what roles they could take in their communities to curtail the unsafe dumping of hazardous waste. The topic of how excessive use of air conditioning harms the climate led to a Facebook chat on the topic following the session.
Festus said he would encourage YALI Network members planning a session to be ready to be open-minded and to incorporate the views of participants as the discussion evolves. “You have to allow every participant to be involved in the discussion — carry everyone along.”
Interested in learning more about #YALILearns? Learn how you can facilitate your own session on our #YALILearns page.