SUSTAINABLE HYDERABAD PROJECT

8 | THEMATIC SECTION EDITORIAL
News
TEA TALK ON “URBAN DEVELOP-
MENT IN INDIA” AT THE INDIAN
FILM FESTIVAL “BOLLYWOOD
AND BEYOND” IN STUTTGART
“Urban researcher” Dr. Angela
Jain (NEXUS) reported on trends
in Indian urban development,
while introducing the Sustainable
Hyderabad Project to visitors of the
8th Indian Film Festival in Stuttgart
(21–24 July 2011). The “Tea Talks”
at the festival, which cover topics
on Indian culture, politics, economy
and society, enjoy wide popularity
with different age and target
groups.
See: www.bollywood-festival.de/
events/tea-talks/stadtentwicklungin-indien.html
1
Prime Minister of India’s Council
on Climate Change (2008): National
Action Plan on Climate Change
(NAPCC). New Delhi. p. 1. Online:
http://pmindia.nic.in/Pg01-52.pdf
[Accessed 04.03.2011]
2
Development Alternatives Group,
New Delhi, India. Online: http://
www.devalt.org/newsletter/sep03/
of_1.htm [Accessed 15.06.2011]
3
Poldas, B. (2011). Analysing
junior college students’ awareness
of climate change in the emerging
megacity of Hyderabad and developing
teaching modules to augment
their knowledge on the issue. DAAD
Postdoc Research Programme, Sustainable
Hyderabad Project, Berlin.
missioner Health and Sanitation, Veterinary and
Transport and GHMC. It focuses on the improvement
of street food safety standards by providing
knowledge, skills and on-site training to the
vendor community. A street food safety manual
in the English and Telugu languages compiles
information on important food safety areas, like
the purchase of safe and healthy raw materials,
energy-efficient food preparation, safe handling
and waste-reducing practices. The second best
practice activity highlights street food as part
of Hyderabad’s cultural heritage. A street food
festival, which will be conducted every January
as part of the National Vendors’ Day initiative,
showcases the importance of the local street
TOPIC 2: AWARENESS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ACTIVATION OF
YOUTH IN THE MEGACITY OF HYDERABAD
by Dr. Bhaskar Poldas, Dr. Angela Jain and Jenny Haberer
Though governments, gov-
to enable the [parties] to participate fully in and
ernmental and non-governmental
organisations
are aware of the threats of
climate change and are actively
engaged in the fight
against it, public participation in campaigns and
development of action plans seems to be lacking.
But without citizen involvement, the outcomes
will be one-sided and ineffective. Given India’s
particular demographical situation, the coming
generation will play a decisive role; hence, a key
leverage point for activation and promotion of
sustainable lifestyles is education.
To achieve the aims set in the vision of India’s
National Action Plan on Climate Change
(NAPCC) “to create a prosperous, but not
wasteful society, an economy that is self-sustaining
in terms of its ability to unleash the creative
energies of [its] people and is mindful of
[its] responsibilities to both present and future
generations,” 1 the awareness of climate change
among citizens needs to be strengthened. One
commitment of the partner countries of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), including India, is the development
and implementation of educational and publicawareness
programmes on climate change and
its effects. To fulfil these commitments, they
need to promote and facilitate education, training
and awareness programmes at the national
and regional levels, as required under Article 6
of the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change: “Education, training and public awareness
have been identified as the important
components of capacity building in developing
countries.” They “will facilitate capacity building
food sector in providing safe, healthy, affordable
and culturally embedded foods. During the
festival, training seminars for vendors and cooking
classes for visitors will be conducted, just as
the need to involve vendors in urban planning
processes will be highlighted. The third activity
focuses on the issue of empowering homeless
women as the most vulnerable social segment of
urban India, undertaken together with Aashray,
of the NGO’s Network for Citizens’ Shelters,
Hyderabad. This aspect of the project aims to
provide assets, knowledge and skills to sustain
marginalized women’s livelihoods as street food
vendors and food safety trainers.
to implement effectively their commitments under
the Convention, and for their effective participation
in the Kyoto Protocol Process.” 2
Towards helping to achieve these ends, Sustainable
Hyderabad Project has conducted the
two studies outlined below.
In Hyderabad District there are a total number
of 272 junior colleges, out of which 22 (8%)
are government run and 250 (92%) are private
institutions. 129 students from 38 different Hyderabad
colleges were asked to participate in a
survey 3 . In light of the results, it can be concluded
that students are aware of climate change,
but their knowledge about it can be described
as rather superficial. Therefore, there is a genuine
necessity to develop strategies to convey to
them more accurate and in-depth information
on climate change, its causes and impacts. On
the other hand, the potential for activating such
students in order to change their habits and to
get them involved in concrete activities and projects
seems to be promising. The answers to the
question “Who do you think is responsible to
undertake measures against climate change?”
show that a majority (69 students) delegate first
responsibility to every citizen. In a further ques-
Figure 2: Responsibility for action against climate
change (source: Poldas 2011)
SUSTAINABLE HYDERABAD PROJECT ISSUES 05 AND 06