View from Heart and Eyes to provide climate change solutions

The founder, Dawn Project, Dr. Pamela Ajayi, has disclosed plan to use the 2021 poetry competition themed, ‘a view from the heart and eyes’ to throw up some brilliant solutions towards combating the menace of climate change.

The competition challenges participants to generate emotional and visual gripping messages around climate change using poetry and imagery.

She said the 2021 would target raising consciousness about protecting the environment from climate change and the effects on biodiversity. Dr. Ajayi, who is also the president of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, said the Dawn Project aims to use poetry and the arts to imbue a love of nature and the desire to effect change into others who previously did not realise the impact human actions on the environment.

Ajayi said, “everyone is called upon to reach deep within, understanding the ecological issues with climate change that have been caused by humans and express themselves clearly in a poem or picture form. The structure of the competition this year will motivate participants to take a more critical look at the issues at hand from a more personal angle.”

The General Manager, Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, urged students, youths and members of the public to take full advantage of the opportunity the competition offers revealing that “there is a global emergency towards mother earth, the climate and the environment. “We have done enough damage and it is fighting us back. Nobody has ever won against Mother Nature. My message to the general public is to treat nature like a living thing.”

The Chairman of Punch Nigeria Ltd, Mrs. Angela Emuwa, who is a collaborator on the project said participants both children and adults are to write a creative poem or capture a visual that illustrates some of the issues surrounding climate change, environmental crisis and ecological topics.
“The entry could be in the form of poetry, photography, illustration, graphic design, motion graphics, craft or cinematography,” she said.