On April 26th 2023, SCN hosted a webinar where experts discussed how to implement a sustainability model for island nations, based on the British Virgin Islands experience. Key members of the organization BVI Green presented and responded to audience questions on how to achieve sustainability goals in a small, relatively closed environment, as well as how those lessons could be applied in other communities. Webinar recording is below.

Presenters:
Corina Corea

Corina has extensive experience in waste management and project oversight with thirteen years tenure at the BVI Department of Waste Management. Corina is currently finishing up her Masters in Management and Leadership and has recently joined the Green VI team as the Materials Manager. Corina discusses her background and some of the issues facing waste management in the BVI and what Green VI is doing to address them?

Charlotte McDevitt

Charlotte came to the BVI in 2006. She arrived with broad experience in reducing waste, litter and illegal dumping from her work with the Waste Management Department in Cape Town, South Africa, and in 2008 earned a master’s degree based on her study of waste reduction and resource management in the BVI. Charlotte founded Green VI in 2009 and, since then, has devoted her time and expertise to establishing best practices in BVI waste/materials management and, through this challenging vocation, building a model system that other small-island states can adopt. Charlotte highlights the link between waste management and mosquito borne diseases and what is being done in the BVI. 

Mark Lichtenstein

Mark is the executive operating officer and chief sustainability officer at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). He is also a faculty associate in the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. Mark served eight terms as president and is an honorary lifetime board member of the National Recycling Coalition. Mark has led sustainability centers at Syracuse University and has been engaged with sustainability and recycling efforts throughout the US, and in Belize, Brazil, British and US Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. He discusses the value of the BVI model regionally and internationally as well as future plans.

Click below for a recording of the webinar.