The 2026/2027 competition aims to plant peace gardens in over 100 schools while building climate resilience.
Jamaica’s Violence Prevention Alliance has officially launched its 2026/2027 Trees for Peace Competition, marking a significant expansion of an initiative that has been cultivating peace gardens in schools since 2018. The launch, held at Tavares Gardens Primary School in Kingston as part of International Day of Peace activities, signals a renewed commitment to using environmental stewardship as a tool for building peaceful communities.
The competition carries the theme “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day” and represents a strategic shift toward climate resilience. According to the VPA’s research associate Jonelle Llewellyn, the programme transforms school grounds into living classrooms where students engage in reflection, dialogue, and peace-building. The 2024/2025 competition drew participation from more than 100 schools across seven education regions, with Sandy Bay Primary earning the national title by scoring 98 per cent, while Merlene Ottey High School received recognition for rebuilding its garden multiple times.
This year’s competition introduces a “climate-smart” focus, encouraging schools to develop gardens that incorporate rainwater harvesting, drip irrigation, hydroponics, and fruit trees. A new Climate Innovation Award Prize has been added to recognise leading schools in these efforts. The Ministry of Education’s Director of Regional Education Services, Otis Brown, emphasised that the school environment plays a crucial role in shaping children’s behaviour, noting that trees and green spaces create areas of calm and reflection that can influence personality development.
The VPA’s leadership stressed the importance of collaboration and sustainability. Dr Elizabeth Ward, the VPA’s chairman, highlighted Jamaica’s capacity to create “a clean, green, peaceful, progressive, innovative society” while noting that success requires ongoing commitment from all stakeholders. She pointed to examples like Sandy Park Primary, where students were given plants to nurture and later transplanted them into recycled pots in the school garden, demonstrating how environmental care builds responsibility.
Registration for the 2026/2027 competition opened on 22 September and will close on 13 November. The initiative targets early-childhood, primary, and high schools in both urban and rural communities across all seven education regions. Schools interested in participating can access registration links through the Ministry of Education’s school bulletin and the VPA’s social media platforms.
The Trees for Peace programme began in 2018 as a VPA initiative to use school grounds as spaces for peace-building and environmental education. Previous evaluations identified sustainability planning and water access as areas needing improvement, prompting the 2026/2027 competition to emphasise climate-smart practices and innovation.
As a Caribbean nation facing increasing climate pressures and community violence, Jamaica’s integration of environmental resilience with peace education offers a model relevant to other island communities. The programme demonstrates how regional institutions can address interconnected challenges of climate vulnerability and social cohesion through youth engagement.
Written & Edited by Orlyn Edwards. Published by Caribbean Air Force Media.
Category: Community · Island routing: Jamaica