The University of The Bahamas North, through its UB IGNITE programme, recently hosted a one-day workshop for Grand Bahama businesses that focused on climate risk assessment. More than 40 businesses took advantage of this free workshop that took place at the Pelican Bay Hotel on Wednesday, 27 March.
Individuals representing the public and private sectors participated in this free workshop that examined both the economic and environmental climate risks associated with operating a business in The Bahamas. The overall objective was to give participants all the information they needed to create a workable business continuity plan.
UB-North partnered with the Grand Bahama Port Authority to host this one-day workshop and was able to present practical, useful information for the 40 plus businesses present. Participants were fully engaged in the topics that covered the business environment and climate, hazards and natural disasters as well as the tools needed to assess risks, both pre and post damages.
“Delivering this Climate Risk Assessment Workshop is one of the milestones that the Sparking Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project must complete each year, and we are so excited that we were able to fulfill this component of the project”, said Ms. Joye Ritchie, UB IGNITE Project Coordinator.
Dr. Selwyn Seymour, Associate Professor at the Business Law School in London, began the day by leading participants through a look at the differences between the business environment and the business climate in an effort to analyze The Bahamas business environment in terms of its ability to enable or hinder growth and development of businesses/organizations.
The second presenter, Dr. Mattias Johansson, Associate Professor of Marine Biology and Small Island Sustainability at UB-North, focused his discussion on the four regional hazards of most concern to businesses: hydrometeorological, geological, man-made and crime. He explained that “most disasters are caused by inadequate planning for development as well as the fact that many developments are placed in high-risk locations.” He cited UB-North’s East Grand Bahama campus as an example of being in a high-risk location.
In addition to learning about the business environment and regional hazards that impact businesses, participants looked specifically at risks associated to the geographic locations of their businesses. Dr. Ancilleno Davis, Associate Professor of Environmental Science at UB-North, guided participants through exercises that helped them to understand the fundamentals of sustainability in order to understand the risks associated with their businesses.
Dr. Davis advised participants to work today in a way that reduces the burden on the future. “Our goal is to use less to get the same effect or use the same amount more efficiently to get more back.”
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