LNG production company Atlantic continues to champion the holistic education of students, with its recent support of skills training initiatives and the continued roll out of a solar-powered hydroponic system within secondary schools.
Most recently, Atlantic assisted St. Madeline Secondary School with the costs associated with an eight-week skills programme. The programme enabled the school population of 480 students to receive training and exposure in a range of areas including entrepreneurship, sport, dance, sewing, candle making and food preservation.
Over the period children received tutoring in these and other areas for two hours weekly to provide them with options and experiences tailored to complement the education curriculum.
Additionally, with the continued focus on food security and the need for environmentally responsible agriculture that protects ecosystems, Atlantic’s Community Environment programme will donate two additional Solar Ponix systems to Naparima College and ASJA Girls College.
Atlantic’s Community Environment Programme teaches secondary school students in Atlantic’s home community of Point Fortin about environmentally responsible agriculture, focusing on protecting ecosystems while nurturing the next generation of farmers and agri-entrepreneurs. The solar powered hydroponic system Solar Ponix is a core component of the initiative.
Solar Ponix incorporates a portable, compact design with the ability to log data, gauge temperature, light levels, electrical conductivity, and the pH of the nutrient system enabling experimentation to optimize plant yields. The system’s creator Ancel Bhagwandeen recently won the Innovation and Technology Challenge Award at the 2023 Energy Conference.
Camille Salandy, Atlantic’s Manager, Sustainability and Corporate Communications said that Atlantic’s community initiatives have always focused on driving capability growth in youths and embedding sustainable skills and practices.
“By teaching young people in-demand skills and how to sustainably produce their own food, we are providing opportunities for their growth and development, and we are also helping to strengthen food security in the Southwest Peninsula,” Salandy said. “Our Community Environment Programme incorporates renewable technology, which broadens understanding of how to conserve natural resources, and helps to enlist more advocates for clean energy.”
Atlantic’s sustainability and environment initiatives are key areas of focus within its corporate social responsibility portfolio, which in addition to imparting conservation values though sustainable community-based initiatives, seeks to create awareness of renewable technologies, environmental protection and entrepreneurship.