As part of the comprehensive initiative “Climate Smart Schools” the Colegio Cristiano Verbo in Bluefields was established as a Community Center for Adaptation to Climate Change. This community center has remained a space for practical learning and the exchange of ideas and experiences, designed to invite and inspire visitors, users, and their surrounding community to replicate the participatory methods learned at the center on access to water, sanitation and hygiene, renewable energy, and small-scale agroecological production.
blueEnergy’s Initiative “Climate Smart Schools” seeks to develop local solutions to improve the resilience of the
participating schools, which not only serve as important community spaces but also as disaster refuge centers. The schools serve as model centers demonstrating methods and infrastructure that contribute to sustainability, the regeneration of ecosystems, improved food security, and improved access to water, sanitation, and hygiene. The Verbo School is a participating elementary school in the city of Bluefields, and the project aims to strenghten its capacities in climate change resilience through the introduction of solar panels to provide clean, consistent, and sustainable energy throughout the day and during times of natural disaster, when often the rest of Bluefields in without power.
In Nicaragua, educational centers in the community serve as shelters during natural disasters as part of the National Plan for Risk Management in Disasters. The project impacts the functionality of the Verbo school to face emergency situations—offering a safe refuge with reliable solar energy during times of hurricanes and tropical storms. The school’s classrooms will have access to solar energy, and the water pump will also be covered by the solar system. The project also aims to improve the energy efficiency of the school (with efficient light bulbs), increase the capacity of the system to cover as much of the electricity bill as possible, and provide energy education: sensitization and awareness raising on renewable energy, energy efficiency, climate change.
This solar system strengthens the school’s adaptation to climate change, contributes to financial sustainability by reducing costs for electricity consumption, and improves the living conditions by providing support to the community in emergency situations like natural distasters.