Clean Islands International Inc., USA

For the past four years, Clean Islands International has fostered empowerment of people of all ages through caring, sharing, learning, and teaching in island communities in the Atlantic Region of North America and the wider Caribbean region. Clean Islands International is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation with international members who are dedicated to providing educational and technical assistance to island communities for the preservation and beautification of indigenous natural environments.

Clean Island International's purpose is to cultivate individual and community environmental awareness by supporting active participation of individual residents, organizations and businesses in planning, developing and implementing proper and practical waste handling systems. Educators, environmental professionals and waste industry experts from the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean voluntarily assist in developing environmentally sensitive systems. By augmenting existing island-based initiatives and programs, these professionals provide resources and knowledge that may not be available locally. Clean Islands International's focus is to promote cooperation in the development of positive resolutions to environmental issues and to provide assistance in developing and presenting environmental awareness projects and educational activities to benefit island communities.

As an active participant in the past four United Nations Environment Programme's Global Youth Forums, special emphasis is placed on those activities which are developed for and/or by young people to enhance interest in education through environmental projects. Often thought of as Clean Islands International's motto, "Share Our Care, Be Aware" is actually the name of the partner or "sister" school environmental awareness project developed with students from three countries, a project which includes the exchange of environmental information and examples. In its simplest form, Clean Islands International promotes the concept that we learn more about ourselves and the environment we live in when we share by learning and teaching with others. The project, developed with youth members, incorporates traditions and characteristics unique to each community and then opens communications to share and grow from an exchange of cultural and environmental information. The project looks at the efforts that individual groups are expending on their local environmental issues and has them share it with others in different geological countries, climates, and cultures. This exposure to others has not only taught students about the differences of their native environments but it has taught them about the similarities, and because of that has helped each to address local environmental issues. Students initiated efforts which resulted in long line fishing being banned in the waters of The Bahamas, thus preserving the biodiversity of marine life in the region.

Along with developing local and international educational projects for youth, Clean Island International is active in coordinating the exchange of technical information to professionals focusing on preventing land and marine pollution.

Over the past four years, Clean Islands International has worked with island communities small and large in The Bahamas, United States, Canada, and the wider Caribbean region. By linking the practices of several other organizations in a coalition approach to focus on providing educational and technical assistance, Clean Islands International has been able to provide assistance and resources to small communities that may not be available locally. By promoting educational methods, Clean Islands International's efforts have provided opportunities for empowering youth through education and by providing information to advance efforts in developing sustainability of resources, whether on land or in the marine environment.