Written by Candy Yan
For most of our programmes, except setting up exciting challenges for participants to overcome their fears and step out of their comfort zones, we also emphasise the importance of preserving our ecosystem and find different effective methods of balancing our nature. When it comes to the issue of carbon emissions, we would like to instill more ideas of Go Green actions and the core roles of individuals and parties.
We invited Mr. George Woodman (a marine conservationist and water quality specialist) and his team from Teng Hoi to set up an educational workshop about carbon trading to strengthen our staff's knowledge towards climate changes. Hopefully we can bring this educational game to Outward Bound programmes.
The Carbon Trading Game is all about the carbon system and correlation between climate change, international relations, and sustainability. It is a method to translate difficult concepts and technical terminology about carbon emissions and global warming into a language that can be readily understood by the public.
Based on the Trading Game originally created by Christian Aid, the Carbon Trading Game has the same fundamental concept of a simplified world consisting of six countries that compete with each in a global economy through trade. The simulation builds in production, money, politics, and challenges participants with problems such as resource shortages and an imposition of a carbon trading system.
During the workshop, our staff learnt about the complexities of the carbon trading system as well as the important issues of climate change, sustainability, and technological development. The game also aligns well with UNESCO’s themes of Education for Sustainable Development and Climate Change.
Teng Hoi is a non-governmental organization founded in 2003 that develops a number of programs linked to the environment and education to encourage participation and interest while providing measurable results.
‘Teng Hoi’ is a Cantonese phrase that translates as ‘listen to the sea’, a name that originated from our first program in the early 2000s – the development of a device to locate explosions underwater generated by illegal fish bombs. The sea provides feedback to them about the way our society lives. They believe that what they hear should be harmonious, but all too often it is not and explosions underwater are an extreme example of how our human society shatters the harmony. At Teng Hoi, they wish to restore that harmony. Their name serves as an ongoing reminder to listen attentively to the voice of the environment and prioritize its well being.
