Apply - Project GEO (Green Enterprenuership Opportunity)

The project is tagged “Project GEO” – GEO stands for ‘Green Entrepreneurship Opportunities’.

 APPLICATION OPENS:
 5th JUNE 2016 (WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL DAY) APPLICATION CLOSES:
18th JULY 2016 (NELSON MANDELA DAY)

 This online workshop is the first part of a two-part process. Part 2 of the workshop will be conducted through a 21-day boot camp in Cape Town, South Africa. Only successful participants in the online introductory workshop will be shortlisted to take part in the ‘fully-sponsored’ boot camp course, where candidates will be trained and mentored on how to design green enterprise projects, which will be fully funded by Green Shift Africa, relevant donor agencies and our partners. Project GEO is a scope-driven product initiated to solve an identified gap in Africa. The compelling thing about the value proposition Green Shift Africa Forum intends to promote with ‘Project GEO’ is the dearth of requisite skills to match the inevitable growth of the green market in Africa. Thus the need for skills enhancement brought about by well-targeted education and training. This becomes necessary so as to ensure that Africa’s growth strategy is well-blended with youth empowerment and skills acquisitions for career advancement and job opportunities in the green economy sector, and the opportunities it presents i.e. green technology, green business practices and environmental protection. 

The uniqueness of Green Shift Africa Forum value proposition lies in our approach to finding solutions to the green skills challenge. Through Education and Training ranging from a popular medium like the internet (online/virtual) to a camp based direct (face to face) medium, Green Shift Africa Forum intends to deliver the expertise needed by Africans to plug this skills gap. Our proposed method sets us apart from the few others who might have similar ideas mainly because of our ability to streamline the broad segments of green skills into this unique program, and our capability to deliver on this using the vast resources within and outside our organization. 

Click the link below to register.
 http://greenshiftafrica.org/projectgeo/language/

Report - "Greening the Campus" Event at Kaduna State University

GREENING THE CAMPUS

 “Greening the Campus” is the first campus seminar of the Green Campus Initiative at Kaduna State University, which introduces eco-sustainability, instigate sustainable actions among students in Kaduna State University. Barakat Tiamiyu; a Green Campus Ambassador, convenes the events, involving the different stakeholders that graced the occasion.  

The event was held at the faculty of science lecture theatre, Kaduna State University on the 31st May, 2016. 250 interested students from different department in the university were in attendance. It witnesses the presence of different university staffs and students. It was anchored by Yusuf Sokfa Kanhu (a youth ambassador). The theme “GREENING THE CAMPUS” event is aimed to create awareness about the importance of 'Going Green', to form a green family of volunteers working together, to build a positive and sustainable future. 

 The event was opened after the distinguish were recognized; Prof. Bala Dogo - Dean of Postgraduate Studies, KASU, Madam Ketura Aku– Administrator of Hamdala Hostel, Dr. Yusuf Saleh (Lecturer, Geography Department)– Representing (Dean, Faculty of Science- Prof. J. G. Laah). Speakers: Arc Gbolade Ogundele -Representing the Green Team,  Alpha Natheniel Hayab – Young Farmer’s Initiative, and Dr. Salamatu Sukai Akor – Mandela Washington Alumni.  

GCI was introduced by Barakat Tiamiyu, who remarkably took the student round the journey on how she became a GCI ambassador, talking about thee  interesting part of working to promote students participation in environmental actions, is seeing different passions that will keep pushing you to move on. She spoke about what GCI is doing to tackle climate change and environmental sustainability and how students can get involve. More elaborate explanation was given by Arc Gbolade Ogundele, as he talks about what Going Green really entails sighting some visual example in Kaduna environs, explaining the steps of achieving environmental sustainability as students. Like getting a green book, telling others to imbibe into the same culture, and so on. Video presentation of the different GCI activities was projected. 

Alpha Nathaniel Hayab, spoke on “Farmer’s and Climate Change”. Using the YALI climate change video, to explain the component behind climate change and how it affects farmers, the people and the economy. He said, ”young people need to be enticed to venture into the business of agriculture for the purpose of profit making to reduce unemployment and poverty”. Dr. Salamatu Sukai Akor, also spoke on Human health and climate change- talking about its adverse effect on people, and how it our activities gradually affects us. She highlighted that bottled water are expensive in the US, which is to force people to carry their watering can which they could refill at different terminals and also high cost of parking vehicles, to encourage the use of public transport. 

Questions were raised concerning the aspect of Going Green and how students can actively be involved in the movement, the speakers gave clear answers to the questions asked. Those interested to join and be part of the Green Centre were asked to leave their details and subsequent meetings will be held to discussed more about the activities of Green Campus Initiative, they were told to register and become a green ambassador that will help elevate sustainable practices in Kaduna State University.

The event ended with a key remark from the representative of Prof. J. G. Laah (Dean, Faculty of Science).  The event was interesting and impactful, with the different enthusiasm demonstrated by the speakers and students, and now Kaduna state is officially green. 

There was a huge turnout of students who waited behind to enquire specifically how they can actively be involve in the movement in Kaduna State University.

"GREENING THE CAMPUS" - Here we are again at Kaduna State University

HELLO KADUNA CITY (Kaduna State University)

Movement of students (youths) is one of the forces for transformation. That is why,  we at House of Babiti is ready to support organizations/individuals ready to induce youths to environmental sustainability.

"Greening The Campus" event is aimed to create awareness about the importance of 'Going Green', to form a green family of volunteers working together, to build a positive and sustainable future. The Green Campus Initiative, which is the first campus-based environmental advocacy organization in Nigeria, Is delivering a one day seminar in Kaduna State University, with the support of the different stakeholders. The Young Farmer's Initiative,  House of Babiti, Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni and Department of Geography.

Venue: Faculty of Science Lecture Theatre, Kaduna State University, Tafawa Balewa way,  Kaduna.

Time: 10:00am, Registration starts 9:00am.

Date: Tuesday 31, May 2016

Attendance is totally free.
+
Refreshment
+
Resources Material
from GCI.

Let's help GREEN THE CAMPUS.
Inform your friend, brother, sister in Kaduna State University.


Kindly contact Barakat for more info.
07050541172

Climate change sensitization

Social media is a gift given to our generation, an opportunity to explore the outside world, to be part of the dynamic momentum of networking. It all depends on how we use it, what we use it for and why we use it. I use to have this notion that people you meet on social media are out there to break you, but not anymore. I have met amazing people online, who are gearing me.

 My adventurous life was brought to the minimal. As I grew older, I was accustomed to the normal activity of life, no sense of adventure. The moment I leaped out, and I discover, what is made for me. That is the point of revolution.

We should use the social media to start that change, every youths should join the force for climate justice, we need to vibe that spirit by creating a cue, a reward then the habit comes up. We need to adopt the technic for business sales used by leading business ventures. The cue is the public pull, the media campaigns, animated presentation of climate change, strategic branding of recycled products, grassroots learning about climate change. For people to know what their actions is doing to degrade nature and future risk attached.

The reward: carbon free air, green sustainable economy, mitigation of fossil fuel consumption. But the reward people want to see is that direct incentive, the feeling of satisfaction, healthy living, access to clean water, spending less while engaging in renewable practices and buying renewal product, and fresh air from green plants.

Incorporating the habit of sustainable practices into our day to day lives, stop littering, stop deforestation, planting new trees, be ready volunteers to spread the word of climate justice. I think that evolution has taught us to follow safer paths, seek comfort over excitement and avoid choices that seems to influence our existing nature, which we are not ready to break free from.

 The North Africa nation revolution started on social media, and so many others. This has shown the power of social media to rejuvenate youths actions. Many youths, especially in Nigeria are not ready to live up to tasks. What cause this sense of passionless life and how can we liven up our dull existence?. The social media can be use to pass messages through graphics, documented discoveries, illustrations and online discussions. To get a higher frequency the respective stakeholders need to imbibe this into their practices and relate the result to the public.

We all want to do great things, but continues to live in one pattern of life and hope to see the great things happening. Sometimes I feel like people love to have everything planned out as they grow up. When it now turned around, we are thrown in despair, and begin to blame others. We yearn to live, we want to live more and more everyday. It's like we simply just don't know how. I know what I want, am focused, I want to build that movement of climate justice. Will you join me?.

#Babiti #ForeverGreen

The Emphatic Response

Do I want this? Do I desire this? Do I see this things happening?....

Sometimes we don't even know what we want, we just find ourselves doing what we do, with no logical explanation about how it happened. What happened could be as a result of our inner mindset either positive or negative, with an apparent description of our motives.

Many of us live our lives unconsciously, there's is no distinctions, we do things because that's how we perceive the society to be, we follow the mother sheep.

You bought a sachet of water while walking on the street, you just litter the sachet, when you're done gulping it. You consider it a reflex action!.

Throwing away refuse in the gutter when it raining. What an impudent act! i just saw a woman did that and believe me it very a common act.

We are what we repeatedly do, "Excellence then is not an act, but an habit", -Aristotle

Many people live in the shadow of their own self, when passed through hard surface they are deformed. Habits shape who we are, what we frequently engage in becomes part of us, what we engage in becomes our embodiment. We need to be conscious of what we do, to be sagacious. I try to be conscious of what I do, I try to understand the chemistry behind things that happened around me.

Everyone is surrounded with layers of veils, it's take a conscious mind to know that, when you're are aware of that, there is this curiosity to look through that veil, what you see create a vibe to continue looking through. Each layer teaches you a lesson, each level is a life course. You begin to ask yourself questions, there's this hunger for more.

We need to be conscious of our environment, to change our reflexes and habit towards our environment, some still need to be oriented while some know the implications but considered their actions not to be salient. I want to live life well, I want to enjoy the free nature, I want to the best for my people and I want to be that change, we are waiting for.

#Barakat is the name

Personality of the Month- The Green Campus Initiative

We have come a long way, and still on track.
Dedicated to make impact, to inspire and translate
actions. Environmental actions that will change where
we are now and where we are to be.

http://www.greenthecampus.org/blog/2016/5/9/green-personality-of-the-month-barakat-tiamiyu-bidemi
Today am awarded the Green Personality of the Month by the Green Campus Initiative. Thanks to everyone that believe in me.

Youth -"Feeding the future". Join the E-Consultation

 The Food Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will hold later this year an international expert meeting on “Youth – feeding the future: Addressing the challenges faced by rural youth aged 15 to 17 in preparing for and accessing decent work”. In the run up, FAO is holding an online consultation, at the Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition, to gather valuable knowledge and experience from across the globe and from diverse technical field.

How to participate
Send your contribution to
FSN-moderator@fao.org
or post it on the
FSN Forum website after becoming a member. http://www.fao.org/fsnforum/

Join the Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network (CYCN) - For individuals ONLY

The Commonwealth Youth Climate Change Network (CYCN) was established in 2009 by young environmental activists from the Commonwealth. The Network is officially recognised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and is placed under the supervision of the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP). The CYCN’s vision is to make climate change a top priority for young people across the Commonwealth and to engage them as key stakeholders in addressing the issue at a grassroots, national and regional level through individual and collective sustainable solutions. The Network’s mission is to build a Commonwealth where young people (especially climate and environmental activists, leaders, professionals and their organizations) are provided with the capacities and opportunities to effectively address climate change and other important environmental issues and find sustainable individual and collective solutions.

  In order to achieve its vision and mission, the CYCN is calling young people (aged 18-29) and youth organisations from across the Commonwealth working on climate change, environmental and sustainable development issues to join its membership database. The database will enable the Network to connect members to share knowledge, skills, expertise, resources, best practices, and support each other in their work. This will create a mapping of young people and organizations in the Commonwealth facing these issues in their daily life. In addition, registered members on the database will benefit from working closely with the Network in accessing new skills, capacity-building, and in developing and implementing activities, campaigns, and projects. 

 Important before filling this form: Please learn more about the Commonwealth at: www.thecommonwealth.org and the CYCN at: www.youthclimate.org.uk Also check the list of Commonwealth member countries at: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/142227/members. 

 This form is only for individuals willing to join the CYCN. Not for organisations. Please fill in the following information in order for you to join the CYCN database. Note that all fields marked with * are mandatory. All collected information will remain confidential and the privacy of the individuals. They cannot be made public without their approval.

Click the link below to register https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1q0LflGULUaOR-uEMztO8xoGEOi7ADBsnZ6oDE1oU3tM/viewform

1. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants. 

Our ever increasing addiction to electricity from coal burning power plants releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 40% of U.S. CO2 emissions come from electricity production, and burning coal accounts for 93% of emissions from the electric utility industry [ EPA, pg. 10]. Every day, more electric gadgets flood the market, and without widespread alternative energy sources, we are highly dependent on burning coal for our personal and commercial electrical supply.

2. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from burning gasoline for transportation. 

Our modern car culture and appetite for globally sourced goods is responsible for about 33% of emissions in the U.S. [ EPA pg. 8] With our population growing at an alarming rate, the demand for more cars and consumer goods means that we are increasing the use of fossil fuels for transportation and manufacturing. Our consumption is outpacing our discoveries of ways to mitigate the effects, with no end in sight to our massive consumer culture.

3. Global Warming Cause: Methane emissions from animals , agriculture such as rice paddies, and from Arctic seabeds. 

Methane is another extremely potent greenhouse gas, ranking right behind CO2. When organic matter is broken down by bacteria under oxygen-starved conditions (anaerobic decomposition) as in rice paddies, methane is produced. The process also takes place in the intestines of herbivorous animals, and with the increase in the amount of concentrated livestock production, the levels of methane released into the atmosphere is increasing. Another source of methane is methane clathrate, a compound containing large amounts of methane trapped in the crystal structure of ice. As

methane escapes from the Arctic seabed , the rate of global warming will increase significantly.

4. Global Warming Cause: Deforestation , especially tropical forests for wood, pulp, and farmland. 

The use of forests for fuel (both wood and for charcoal) is one cause of deforestation, but in the first world, our appetite for wood and paper products, our consumption of livestock grazed on former forest land, and the use of tropical forest lands for commodities like palm oil plantations contributes to the mass deforestation of our world. Forests remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and this deforestation releases large amounts of carbon, as well as reducing the amount of carbon capture on the planet.

5. Global Warming Cause: Increase in usage of chemical fertilizers on croplands. 

In the last half of the 20th century, the use of chemical fertilizers (as opposed to the historical use of animal manure) has risen dramatically. The high rate of application of nitrogen-rich fertilizers has effects on the heat storage of cropland (nitrogen oxides have 300 times more heat-trapping capacity per unit of volume than carbon dioxide) and the run-off of excess fertilizers creates ‘dead-zones’ in our oceans. In addition to these effects, high nitrate levels in groundwater due to over-fertilization are cause for concern for human health.

6. Global Warming Effect: Rise in sea levels worldwide

Scientists predict an increase in sea levels worldwide due to the melting of two massive ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, especially on the East coast of the U.S . However, many nations around the world will experience the effects of

rising sea levels , which could displace millions of people. One nation, the Maldives, is already looking for a new home, thanks to rising sea levels.

7. Global Warming Effect: More killer storms. 

The severity of storms such as hurricanes and cyclones is increasing, and research published in Nature found:

“Scientists have come up with the firmest evidence so far that global warming will significantly increase the intensity of the most extreme storms worldwide . The maximum wind speeds of the strongest tropical cyclones have increased significantly since 1981, according to research published in Nature this week. And the upward trend, thought to be driven by rising ocean temperatures, is unlikely to stop at any time soon.”

8. Global Warming Effect: Massive crop failures

According to recent research, there is a

90% chance that 3 billion people worldwide will have to choose between moving their families to milder climes and going hungry due to climate change within 100 years. One of the main causes of this will be the spread of desertification, and its accompanying effects.

“Climate change is expected to have the most severe impact on water supplies. “Shortages in future are likely to threaten food production, reduce sanitation, hinder economic development and damage ecosystems. It causes more violent swings between floods and droughts.”” – Guardian: Global warming causes 300,000 deaths a year. 

9. Global Warming Effect: Widespread extinction of species. 

According to research published in Nature, by 2050, rising temperatures could lead to the extinction of more than a million species. And because we can’t exist without a diverse population of species on Earth, this is scary news for humans.

This 6th mass extinction is really just a continuation of the holocene extinction which began at the end of the last ice age and has resulted in the extinction of nearly all of the Earth’s megafauna animals, largely as a result of human-expansion.

“Climate change now represents at least as great a threat to the number of species surviving on Earth as habitat-destruction and modification.” Chris Thomas, conservation biologist at the University of Leeds

Widespread species loss and lists of endangered species just keep growing. This is a concerning matter on many fronts.

10. Global Warming Effect: Disappearance of coral reefs

A report on coral reefs from WWF says that in a worst case scenario, coral populations will collapse by 2100 due to increased temperatures and ocean acidification. The ‘bleaching’ of corals from small but prolonged rises in sea temperature is a severe danger for ocean ecosystems, and many other species in the oceans rely on coral reefs for their survival.

“Despite the oceans’s immensity — 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface with an average depth of almost 4km (2½m) — there are indications that it is approaching its tipping point. For reefs, warming waters and acidification are closing in like a pair of jaws that threaten to make them the first global ecosystem to disappear.” – Times Online: 21st-century Noah’s Ark needed to save coral reefs from extinction. 

Source: planetsave.com/2009/06/07/global-warming-effects-and-causes-a-top-10-list