Facilitation, Networking and Participation - Centre For Environment ...

Facilitation, Networking and Participation2222.1 Information and FacilitationCentre, CEE AhmedabadThe Information and Facilitation Centre (IFC)was set up in January 2008 to serve as aninterface with the people of Ahmedabad andwith visitors at CEE and its sister organisations,and providing them an opportunity to orientthemselves to Environment and SustainableDevelopment, including information onvarious schemes and programmes of theMinistry of Environment and Forests,Government of India.In its second year, the IFC has developed amenu of programmes and activities whichinclude orientation and hands-on experientiallearning opportunities for various age groupsthrough three hour to week long packages.The IFC also introduced a month long summerprogramme for children, culminating on June5. Outdoor activities include nature trails oncampus, bird watching and field trips tonatural sites. The IFC has actively beeninvolved in developing a campaign aroundthe theme of ‘Safe Festivals’. It also promoteseco-friendly products, displays environmentalpublications and information about latestpublications. A database on participants toIFC’s various programmes and visitors to theIFC is prepared and updated on a regularbasis. It has over 1500 local addresses listed, towhom event information and other updateson special programmes at CEE are sent.IFC was also involved in the databasepreparation, management and communicationwith around 500 volunteers of the Hands forChange – Teach India Programme carried outby CEE in partnership with The Times of Indiain Ahmedabad.22.1.1 Packages for Orientation toEnvironmental EducationThese were offered to a varied group of visitorsto CEE. Generally of a duration of three hours,these include a Nature Trail, EnvironmentEducation activities and games, and a film.Special components get added to this mainpackage based on the profile of the grouptaking the package.School groups: The IFC facilitated visits fromseven schools of Ahmedabad. The studentgroups were varied as they included veryyoung children from pre-primary and thosefrom senior secondary classes. The IFC alsohad the opportunity to work with a group ofspecial children from one of the schools inAhmedabad.University students and trainees atprofessional programmes: Student groupsfrom Gujarat University - Department ofBotany, M.S.University - Department ofCommunity Sciences and the Department ofHome Science, and trainees at the FacultyDevelopment Programme of the IndianInstitute of Management - Ahmedabad, SardarPatel Institute of Public Administration(SPIPA) - Ahmedabad and Indira GandhiNational Forest Academy (IGNFA) -Dehradun, were provided orientation toEnvironment Education and CEE’sprogrammes. Special sessions on urbanforestry were included for trainees from SPIPAand on zoo interpretation for trainees fromIGNFA.Youth groups of UMEED, SAATH (anAhmedabad based NGO): IFC arranged avisit of 70 members from UMEED and offeredthem the Orientation package.167

22.1.3 Summer Programme forChildrenA special vacation programme for 40 childrenof age 10-13 years was initiated by the IFC.The month long programme was divided intofour weeks, each coordinated by a subjectspecialist from CEE. The themes for eachweek were:Week 1 – Choose to Re-useWeek 2 – AirWeek 3 – WaterWeek 4 – Nature’s CreaturesThe programme included field trips, moviescreenings, theoretical and practical sessions,activities and games. Participants were givencertificates at the end of programme. Thechildren set up an exhibition and conductedpuppet shows on World Environment Daywith the products and materials theydeveloped during the summer programme.22.1.4 IFC, DelhiThe Information and Facilitation Counter (IFC)of the Ministry of Environment & Forests(MoEF) at New Delhi, has been designed, setup, and run by CEE since December 2005. TheIFC provides visitors to the MoEF basicinformation about the Ministry, its mandate,objectives, various divisions and their workareas. It has facilities such as a touchscreen forbrowsing MoEF related information, a readingarea where publications on display can bereferred, besides a helpdesk for visitor queryhandling. It also facilitates them in seekinginformation about the status of theirapplications for various clearances handledby MoEF. The Ministry’s publications andfunding scheme guidelines are distributedfree from the counter. The IFC also receivesand processes applications from the generalpublic under the Right to Information (RTI)Act.22.2 Seminars/Workshops Conducted22.2.1 CEE West• A half day orientation workshop on EEwas conducted in M.P Patel High School,Vadodara, on September 29, 2008 forstudents of standards 6 and 7. About 80students took part in the workshop andparticipated in EE activities.• A one day workshop was conducted onMarch 3, 2009 on Students as key leaders forEnvironment Education at MaharajaSayajirao University (MSU), Vadodara. Theworkshop mainly focused ondemonstrating to the students the variousapproaches and methodologies forenvironment education. The studentsregularly interact with children of villagesand slums and conduct activities withthem. Around 80 graduate and postgraduatestudents participated in theworkshop.• A five day workshop was conducted fromMarch 21-25, 2009, in Municipal SchoolNo. 26, Ahmedabad on EE. The workshopinvolved 100 students from standards 6 to8 and focused on energy, waste andbiodiversity as themes.22.2.2 CEE Tamil Nadu• CEE-TN was invited to conduct a trainingprogramme for over 150 teachers to helpthem develop an environmentalperspective in their teaching. Theprogramme was organised by the MadrasNaturalist Society and the PadmaSheshadri Bal Bhawan School, Chennai.169

22.2.3 WaRM Group• WaRM Jodhpur staff attended a regionalworkshop on Corporate SocialResponsibility on February 18, 2009,organised by Marwar Management Trust.• A training programme on hospital wastemanagement was conducted at GoyalHospital and Research Centre, Jodhpur onMarch 23, by WaRM Jodhpur on therequest of the Common Facility operatorat Jodhpur.• WaRM Group attended a RegionalWorkshop on Opportunities in the Livestockand Food Processing Industry Sector at IndiaHabitat Centre, New Delhi, organised byTERI on March 3-4, 2009.• A paper by RCE Kodagu on Education forSustainable Development in Fragile Areas,authored by Dr. Shyamala Mani and Ms.Indu Kumari was presented in session 4B:Role of Regional Centres of Expertise onEducation for Sustainable Development inTeacher Education – Part II. The paperbrought out the unique approach oflearning by doing for ESD, focusing onconservation of sacred groves in fragileareas. The presentation stimulated interestin the content and approach in designingsuch manuals for ESD.22.3 Individual ParticipationMs. Reema Banerjee• Delivered a lecture on Environment andHealth to a mixed batch of high schoolstudents on the request of Council forScience and Technology, Jodhpur, onFebruary 28, to commemorate Science Day.• Delivered a lecture on Role of NGOs inWater Conservation and Management andhighlighted CEE’s effort in the area, whenWaRM Jodhpur participated in the nationalseminar on Water Conservation at MBMEngineering College, Jodhpur on March15, 2009.Dr. Kiran Chhokar• Participated in the 3 rd Annual RCEConference in Barcelona, Spain in July2008.• Facilitated the first meeting of RCE Delhiat TERI, New Delhi, in August 2008.• Was invited as one of the two keynotespeakers at the Disruptive Thinking Dialogueat EMSU 2008 Conference in Barcelona,Spain in October 2008. The topic of thedialogue was Curiosity or Necessity: Whatshould drive knowledge?• Was resource person at on Non formalTeaching Aids at an Educators Conferenceon Climate Change organised by TERI atGual Pahari, Gurgaon, in November 2008.• Was discussant at the special session onFACTS Reports during the Annual Meetingof the Global Development Network inKuwait City in February 2009.• Participated in the Earth Charter Scholars’Consultation in Sanibel, Florida, USA inFebruary 2009.• Participated as panelist in the RachelCarson Memorial Lecture Series at theFlorida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), FortMyers, USA, and facilitated a workshopsession on ESD and Higher Education forFGCU students and faculty in February2009.Mr. Laxmikant Deshpande• Participated in a training on BiodiversityMonitoring and Education organised by170

the Field Studies Council, UK, in August2008, as part of the celebrations on theoccasion of the 200 th anniversary of CharlesDarwin. Researchers and educators fromover 21 countries attended the training,which focused on classroom and fieldtechniques of biodiversity research,education and database management.Participants visited a number of sciencecentres, natural history museums, NGOsand ecosystems to understand theirmanagement and role in biodiversityconservation.Dr. Abdhesh Gangwar• Participated in the meeting of Sphere –Unified Response Strategy, J&K held atJammu University in April. The URS FocalPoint briefed the group on SphereStandards, Sphere India and URS concept/principles. The issues and priorities wereidentified and highlighted for the State ofJ&K, and Jammu region in specific. A needfor generating a disaster and vulnerabilityprofile of the region and State was felt.Mapping and compiling data which couldhelp in creating a vulnerability map of thestate and region can prove an importanttool for planning and response. Linkagesneed to be established with universitiesand other institutions for technicalcapacities. Disaster management relatedtrainings; and skill enhancement andorientation programmes for NGOs wereput on the priority list. Membersacknowledged the varied dynamics in thethree regions of the state, and proposedregional core groups with inter-linkingand convergence for the entire state.• Undertook an international courseCertificate of Advanced Studies in DisasterRisk Reduction: Vulnerabilities and Capacitiesin the Context of Climate Change jointlyorganised by the New Delhi Office ofSwiss International DevelopmentCooperation, and National Institute ofDisaster Management (NIDM), New Delhi.The course was completed in two parts –the first part coordinated by and held atEcole Polytechnique Federal De Lausanne(EPFL), Switzerland, from September 1-12, 2008. The second part of the course washeld from November 3-14, 2008 at IndianInstitute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, Indiacoordinated by NIDM and facilitated byIISc. The course comprised of threemodules - Climate Change and HydroMeteorological Risks; Disaster RiskManagement; and Vulnerabilities andCapacities.• Was invited as a Resource Person duringthe “Asia Regional Workshop on the Roleof Youth in Mitigating the Impact ofClimate Change for SustainableLivelihood” organised by theCommonwealth Youth Programme, AsiaCenter, Chandigarh; Ministry of YouthAffairs and Sports, GOI, New Delhi; andthe Uttarakhand State Council for Science& Technology, during October 13-18, 2008at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun.About 35 youth from Bangladesh, BruneiDarussalam, Pakistan, Maldives, Malaysia,and Singapore participated in theprogramme. Dr. Gangwar spoke onEcological Footprint and CC RelatedAdaptation and facilitated groupdiscussions and recommendations.• Was invited by a Gurgaon based NGOPragya during the launch of their ‘HighHimalayas Forum’ on October 14, 2008, atIndia Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The HighHimalayas Forum (HHF) is an effort171

towards addressing the need to create astructure that facilitates a wide base forstakeholder participation in developmentactions in the high altitude Himalaya. HHFaims to strengthen knowledge sharing andcollaboration amongst variousstakeholders and promote the design ofappropriate policies and interventions,built upon and adapted to the local context.• Completed an Online Training onAdvocacy (OTA) organised by theMountain Partnership Secretariat – AsiaPacific Decentralised Hub (MPS-APDH)from February 26 to March 20. The trainingmodule was developed by ICIMOD, Nepal.Dr. Rashmi Gangwar• Participated in Plan Partners’ Meet atSariska in April 2008. Plan holds the annualmeeting with its partners to discuss thepriorities, policies and developments atPlan India & International level. It alsoprovides a forum to its partners to sharetheir success stories as well as difficulties.• Was invited by HT Pace as member of thejury for the poster making competitionconducted on the occasion of Earth Day.Over 600 students from 50 local schoolsparticipated in this event organised by HTPace and City Montessori School,Lucknow.• Participated in the first EmergencyResponse Team training from May 7-9,2008, held at Konark, Orissa. German AgroAction, CONCERN Worldwide, HIVOSand CESVI, the members of the Indiancounterpart of Alliance 2015 of EuropeanNGOs, have started a United NationalEmergency Response, as part of which anEmergency Response Team (ERT) has beenformed by the alliance members alongwith their partners. Dr. Rashmi Gangwarand Dr. Abdhesh Gangwar have beenselected as the members of ERT. Thetraining apprised the participants ofAlliance 2015 principles; emergencyresponse strategy; role and responsibilitiesof ERT members; SPHERE minimumstandards; humanitarian charter; and tipson modus operandi during emergencysituations. ERT members can be calledupon at a short notice of 24 hrs for 7 to 15days in case of emergencies by the Alliance.ERT members were trained on rapidassessment; project formulation;procurement and implementation tools.Around 30 members participated in thetraining.• Presented a paper Education for Dal LakeConservation Through People’s Participationduring the 4 th Asian Wetland Symposium2008 held at Hanoi, Vietnam, and organisedby the Ministry of Natural Resources andEnvironment, Government of Vietnam, inpartnership with the Ministry ofEnvironment, Government of Japan;Ramsar Centre, Japan and IUCN Vietnamduring June 22-25, 2008. The symposiumwas attended by approximately 300participants from 21 countries. It concludedwith the ‘Hanoi Call for Action onWetlands’ to be presented to theforthcoming 10 th meeting of the Conferenceof Contracting Parties (COP10) atChangwon, South Korea in October-November 2008. The Parties to RamsarConvention recognise the importance ofAWS.• Attended a week long course on ‘Essentialsof Humanitarian Practice’ conducted byRed R India at Pune. Held in September,the course focused on fundamental172

concepts of Humanitarian Action includingoperations and planning, internationallegal instruments, gender and cross culturalissues, addressing media, SHPEREstandards and much more through crispand precise power point presentations, alot of group work, simulation exercisesand documentaries. The course is of specialimportance for project planning/monitoring and implementation of RTprogramme.• Presented a paper Towards Building ADisaster Resilient Community in the IndianHimalayan Region through Non-formalEducation and Awareness during theInternational Disaster ReductionConference (IDRC) 2008 held at Davos,Switzerland from August 25-29, 2008. Aspecial session was dedicated to the recentWenchuan earthquake in China. GlobalRisk Forum (GRF), Davos, a network ofinternationally renowned experts,politicians and practitioners, was officiallylaunched on the first day of the conference.Established with the goals of bridging thegap between science and practice;promoting worldwide exchange ofknowhow and experience; and promotinggood practices for integrated riskmanagement and climate changeadaptation, it closely collaborates withrepresentatives from business and science,from organisations of the United Nationsand from NGOs. Urdu and Englishpublications on disaster educationdeveloped by CEE Himalaya – eg. the kitRisk Land: Let’s learn to prevent disasters - ofISDR and UNICEF; The Earthquake - HelpingChildren Cope: The Role of Teachers and Parentswere presented to the ISDR secretariatduring the conference.• Participated in the World NGO Conferenceon Wetlands - “NGOs for Healthy andSustainable Wetlands” - held at Koreafrom October 25-28, 2008 on invitationfrom Korea Federation of EnvironmentalMovements (KEFM) and Korea NGONetwork for Ramsar COP 10. She sharedCEE’s Communication, Education, andPublic Awareness (CEPA) initiativesduring the conference, which was attendedby over 400 participants from 31 countriesand focused on themes like – CEPA,Biodiversity of paddy fields, and wise andnon-wise use of wetlands. The discussionsled to ‘Suncheon NGO Declaration’through which participating NGOsunanimously commented on COP 10 draftresolutions. ‘World Wetland Network’was formed during the conference toenhance information sharing and transferof best practices with regard to planning,monitoring and management of wetlands.• Represented CEE at the Ramsar COP 10October 28 – November 4, 2008 atChangwan, Korea as an observer. The 10 thmeeting of the Contracting Parties (COP)from 158 countries was declared open bythe President of the Republic of Korea Mr.Lee Myung-pak on October 28. Referred toas “Environmental Olympics” by theKorean media, COP 10 had debates on 32draft resolutions, discussed the StrategicPlan for 2009–2014, legal status of RamsarConvention, financial issues and electionof new office bearers. There were plenaries,regional meetings, side events, exhibitions,cultural programmes and educational toursto wetlands of national importance inKorea. Climate change and wetlands, andBio-fuels remained the crosscutting issuesduring the deliberations.173

• Was invited by the Uttarakhand StateCouncil for Science and Technology to the3 rd Uttarakhand State Science &Technology Congress 2008, as a memberof the Jury for the technical session onBiotechnology, Biochemistry andMicrobiology. The Congress was hostedby IIT Roorkee on November 10-11, 2008.• Participated in an ‘Overview Course onDisaster Risk Reduction, Response andRecovery’ at the Swedish Rescue ServiceAgency (SRSA), Revinge, Sweden. Thecourse dealt with the basic understandingof disasters including the standard globalterminology; hazards, risk, vulnerabilityand capacity and their relationship; policiesand existing legal framework for DRR;multi-sector and multidisciplinaryapproach to risk reduction and prevention;policy issues in response and recovery;preparedness and contingency planning;components of response – includingoperations, logistics, informationmanagement, assessment, coordination,challenges and opportunities; aspects ofrecovery; integrating DRR in recovery; predisasterrecovery planning andmainstreaming DRR in development. Ahighly professional team of experts fromUN ISDR, UNDP Bureau for CrisisPrevention and Recovery, Office for theCoordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA), International Disaster and EnergyManagement Associates, African Centrefor Disaster Studies and SRSA conductedthe course using a participatorymethodology. SRSA conducted this coursein cooperation with ISDR, InternationalFederation of Red Cross and Red CrescentSocieties, UNDP, Capacity for DisasterReduction Initiative (CADRI) and OCHA.Twenty one participants, including twoAsians, from nine countries, mostly midlevel professionals in the field of disasterresponse and recovery participated.• Attended the International ExploratoryWorkshop – ‘Changing Climate –Changing Risks: Climate ChangeAdaptation of Disaster Management’ atLund University Centre for Risk Analysisand Management, Lund on November 24.Addressed by distinguished speakers likeMd. Hamza on Changing IndividualVulnerabilities, Prof. F. Konradsen onChanging Biological Hazards, theworkshop was moderated by JohanSacchar, Director, Secretariat of theCommissions on Climate Change andDevelopment, Sweden.• Was invited by the GorakhpurEnvironmental Action Group as a Panelistfor the session Climate Change: Impact onWomen Farmers during a two day statelevel dialogue on Climate Change Impacton Farming held at Lucknow on December29-30.• Participated in the InternationalConference on Combating Challenges ofClimate Change at Vigyan Bhawan, NewDelhi, during February 7-9, 2009. Theconference was organised by Scientistsand Engineers Wing of PrajapitaBrahmakumaris Organisation and wassponsored by Union Ministries of EarthScience, Environment and Forests, Science& Technology, New and RenewableEnergy and DRDO. The three dayconference attended by over 1000 Scientists,Engineers and subject experts wasinaugurated by Union Minister, Mr. KapilSibbal.174

• Completed an Online Training onAdvocacy (OTA) organised by theMountain Partnership Secretariat – AsiaPacific Decentralised Hub (MPS-APDH)from February 26 – March 20.. The trainingmodule was developed by ICIMOD, Nepal.Mr. Sharad Gaur• Continued as a member in the ProgrammePreview Committee of the Consortium forEducational Communication, UniversityGrants Commission (UGC-CEC).Mr. Gopal Kumar Jain• Represented SAYEN and CEE at the MaleDeclaration: An Inter-Governmental Forumon Transboundary Air Pollution at the TenthRegional Stakeholders Meeting held onAugust 19-20, 2008 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.• Represented SAYEN and CEE at the UNEPRegional Civil Society Meeting andInternational Environmental Governance,November 27-30, 2008.• Represented SAYEN and CEE at the 9 thAnnual Collaborative Action Network(CAN) meeting of UNEP, organised onMarch 5, 2009 at Asian Institute ofTechnology (AIT), BangkokMs. Shivani Jain• Attended the 5 th Pan-CommonwealthForum for Open and Distance Learningheld at the University of London n July2008. Ms. Jain presented two papers at thisConference – Experimenting with technologymediateddistance education (TechMODE) forstrengthening young professionals’ training inESD and ODL, Climate Change andSustainable Livelihoods.• Was invited as a member on one of thefinal assessment juries of NIDGandhinagar, in June 2008.• Was invited to the 13 th Foundation DayCelebration of the National Council forTeacher Education held in New Delhi on18 August 2008.• Was invited by the Centre for ESD,University of Gotland, Sweden, in October2008, to present a think-piece on ESD attheir two day International Conference onESD. Due to prior commitments, Ms. Jaincould not be present at the Conference, butthe think-piece written by her was read asone of the keynote papers of theConference.• Was invited to be on the panel of expertsthat reviewed the exhibits and models atthe GCERT Science Fair held atHimmatnagar, Gujarat in November 2008.Ms. Supriya Jhunjhunwala• Was the recipient of the CheveningGurukul Scholarship to the London Schoolof Economics and Political Science whereshe attended the Chevening GurukulProgramme for Leadership and Excellence.The Chevening Gurukul is a unique 12week advanced leadership programme,created specifically for India’s futureleaders. It was launched in 1997 to mark 50years of India’s independence and sincethen has become a prestigious name,attracting high calibre applicants.She received exposure and training indiverse subjects including• The globalising context of leadership:theoretical and empirical analyses ofglobalising trends, technologicalchange, risk analysis, liberalization;• Emerging institutions for globalgovernance and leadership: UnitedNations, World Trade Organisation,175

International Labour Organisation,World Bank, NATO, with a study visitto the WTO, UN, ILO in Geneva;• Changing power structures: the rise ofthe global corporation, comparativegrowth of the BRICS economies, theEU as a trade power, with a study visitto EU institutions and NATO inBrussels;• Minorities, new nationalisms andinstitutional leadership: nationalisms,devolution and federalism, with a studyvisit to the Parliament and Executive inEdinburgh;• Leadership issues and emerging globalnorms:– sustainable development;economics of climate change;– energy security;– corporate social responsibility;– transparency and control ofcorruption;– religious equality, tolerance andIslamAs part of the programme, she researchedhow not-for-profits grow and her thesisexamined the Royal Society for Protectionof Birds (RSPB), a UK institute with overone million members, as a case study formembership growth. Her thesis was veryhighly appreciated by the ProgrammeDirector Dr. Howard Matchin and is beingused by some UK NGOs to study howmembership in organisations grow. Shewas mentored by Kate Jenkins who was aformer advisor to Ms. Margaret Thatcherwhile she was the Prime Minister. Duringher course of study, she got the opportunityto meet several current and future headsof state including the Queen of England.• Attended the Annual Meeting of theSociety for Conservation Biology,Chattanooga, USA during July 13-17, 2008.She made a presentation on the LesserFlorican Conservation Programme to thewinners and alumni of the CLP Awardfrom all over the world. The film on theflorican programme made by CEE wildlifefor the Madhya Pradesh State BiodiversityBoard was also screened.Ms. Madhavi Joshi• Was invited to be a Jury member for theFinal Semester students at CEPT Universityon May 6, 2008.• Attended the meeting organised by theCUTS, CART Office in Jaipur as a memberof the Advisory Committee of CART,Jaipur.• Participated in the 3 rd All-RussianConference on “Ecological Education inthe Framework of the UN Decade ofEducation for Sustainable Development(global and regional aspects)” at Khanty-Mansyisk, Russia, during June 9-14, andmade a presentation on CEE’s initiativesin DESD in India.• Participated and facilitated a workshop onReverse: Expectations of Partners in the Southas part of the workshop series – ESD andVoluntary Services: Can Volunteers Makea Difference? - during the Global Learnings– Welwarts and Beyond – ESD Conference,Bonn, Germany.Mr. Simanta Kalita• Participated as a Resource Person in aradio discussion on Role of NGOs inSustainable Development. All India Radio,Guwahati broadcasted the discussion inJanuary 2008176

• Was the Resource Person in the trainingprogramme held by Aaranyak in Guwahation Student Project Designing. Theprogramme was held in Maharishi VidyaMandir School I on May 20, 2008.• Was the Resource Person in the lectureprogramme on Biodiversity held inChandrapur College, Guwahati by GyanVigyan Samity, Assam on May 21, 2008.• Was a Resource Person in the DNA Clubsummer programme held in Guwahati byTERI Guwahati Office on May 22, 2008.• Was a Resource Person in the Pre-Environment Day programme held inGuwahati on June 4, 2008 by C-NES anddelivered a talk on Environment Protection,Our Habits and River Dolphin Conservation.• Attended the meeting held in September2008 at Guwahati for selection of ProjectProposals for North Eastern India for theNational Environment AwarenessCampaign of the MoEf, GoI. He is amember of the Regional SelectionCommittee.• Attended a meeting of the EmpoweredCommittee to Oversee the Implementationof Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Projectin March 2009. Mr. Kalita is a member ofthe Committee• Attended two meetings of the AdvisoryCommittee appointed by the Governor ofAssam for the implementation of the WorldHeritage Biodiversity Programme: India(WHBPI), Assam (Kaziranga and Manas).• Participated in the FACTS ReportConference in the World BioVision Forumheld in Montreal, France in March 2009.He presented a paper on EndogenousTourism Project, Sualkuchi: A journey ofempowering community for self reliance.Ms. Chetali Kapoor• Participated in the 1 st EnvironmentalEducators’ Conference organised by TheEnergy Resources Institute (TERI) inGurgaon, Haryana, in November 2008.Ms. Indu Kumari• Attended the Asia-Pacific Programme ofEducational Innovation for Development(APEID) in Bangkok. APEID-UNESCO andthe Ministry of Education of Thailandjointly organised the 4 th World Teachers’Day in Thailand and the 12 th UNESCO-APEID International Conference, duringMarch 24-26, 2009, to honour teachers whohave worked hard to educate generationsof children, youth and adults. The theme,Quality Innovations for Teaching and Learning,highlighted the importance of teachereducation and provided a forum for policymakers, educators, teachers, academiciansand researchers to discuss, exchangeinformation and learn from each other onhow we can teach and learn - in a moreinnovative way, with our heads, heartsand hands - to ensure a sustainable future.The opening ceremony started with atribute to exemplary teachers and amessage from Nicolas Burnett, AssistantDirector General, UNESCO, Paris, followedby the opening address by H.E. Mr. AbhisitVejjajiva, Prime Minister of Thailand.Plenary sessions were on Strengtheningthe Teaching Profession for the 21stCentury, Reorienting Teacher Educationfor Sustainable Development, Harnessingthe Potential of ICT in Education, Bridgingthe Social Divide through InclusiveEducation, Nurturing the HolisticDevelopment of Children and Youth, andBringing the Arts and Culture intoEducation.177

Dr. Shyamala Mani• Gave a talk on Women as Managers ofEnvironment in the Symposium on Womenand Environment on March 12, 2009. Theevent was organised World Women’s Daytheme organised by Centre forEnvironmental and Management Studiesand Lions Club Delhi Aishwarya at IndiaInternational Centre Annexe - Hall 3.• Gave a talk on Biomedical WasteManagement in the reorientationprogramme for teachers in Swasthavritta(Preventive and Social Medicine) at TilakAyurved Mahavidyalaya, Pune, on March13, 2009.• Participated as a keynote speaker at the 8 thInternational Electronics RecyclingCongress - IERC 2009 at Salzburg, Austria,on January 21-23, 2009. She spoke onScenario of E-waste Management and VariousEfforts towards Sustainable E-wasteManagement in India.• Delivered one of the keynote addresses inthe 24 th Indian Paints Conference onFebruary 7 at Chennai and spoke on theenvironmental and health impacts ofvarious hazardous substances in paintsand suggested ways to avoid the hazardsand still make the paints industry asustainable one.• Attended meetings of TechnicalAssessment Committee (TAC) of theDepartment of Scientific and IndustrialResearch (DSIR), Ministry of Science andTechnology. DSIR has taken up a newactivity to support start-ups in theopportunity area Waste to Wealth. Themeeting was held under the chairmanshipof Prof. V.S. Rammurthy, Chairman, Boardof Governors, IIT Delhi.• Was invited as an expert to visit M/s EcoRecycling Limited, Mumbai, in January2009. This was as part of DSIR’s programmeto support young firms in the area of Wasteto wealth.• Gave a talk on E-Waste in the seminar onEnvironmental Issues - “Make aDifference” on September 17, 2008,organised by the Inner Wheel South DistrictCommittee.• Gave a talk on Waste Management and PlasticRecycling, which was telecast onDoordarshan channel (DD1) in theprogramme “Evening Live Show”, onAugust 19, 2008.• Spoke to and mentored the various groupsfrom the Ecocities - Tirupathi, Puri, Ujjainand Vrindavan - at a workshop organisedby GTZ at Toshali Sands, Puri from August11-13, 2008, for transforming the NGOsengaged in the waste management projectsinto business models.• Participated in The Third InternationalRCE Conference, supported by UNU-IASat Barcelona, Spain, during July 2-4, 2008.Representing RCE Kodagu, she facilitatedthe session on Biodiversity along withRCE Chubu and helped develop a templatefor factsheets.• Represented RCE Kodagu and made apresentation on the Status of SustainableHealth in India in the RCE thematicworkshop on Health held at the medicalcampus of Universiti Sains Malaysia(USM), at Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysiafrom May 21-23, 2008.• Along with Indu Kumari and PriyankaPorwal, attended the Third South AsianConference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-III),178

New Delhi, during November 16-21, 2008.Dr Shyamala Mani presented the papertitled Education for Addressing Challenges inSanitation in India authored by herself,Reema Banerjee and Indu Kumari in theSanitation Beyond Toilets session. WaRM,CEE also facilitated the session onEcological Sanitation and prepared the CDon Sanitation for the conference funded bythe Ministry of Rural Development, GoI.The exhibits by CEE showcasing theinitiatives on sanitation education andwaste management from different regionaloffices and cells of CEE received a verygood response.• Along with Ms. Indu Kumari attended theMethane to Markets - Regional Workshop onOpportunities in Livestock and Food ProcessingIndustry Sector, during March 3-4, 2009, atthe India Habitat Centre, New Delhiorganised by TERI. The two day regionalworkshop was organised with the supportof United States Environmental ProtectionAgency, and addressed the technical,financial and policy aspects associated withthe implementation of methane captureprojects for generating energy andcontrolling emissions.• Along with Ms. Indu Kumari attended theConference on Biomedical WasteManagement, on December 23, 2008 atASSOCHAM House, New Delhi, whereDr. Mani made presentation and addedvalue to the panel discussion on the topic.• A Paper by Dr. Shyamala Mani titledDistance Education Through E-Learning – ACollaborative Effort For Meaningful Learningwas selected for presentation at the 6 thInternational Conference on Education andInformation Systems, Technologies andApplications: EISTA 2008, in the context ofthe 2 nd International Multi-Conference onSociety, Cybernetics and Informatics:IMSCI 2008, held during June 29 - July 2,2008 in Orlando, Florida, USA.Mr. Manish Meshram• Participated in the Librarians’ Day Seminarjointly organised by Ahmedabad LibraryNetwork (ADINET), Information andLibrary Network (INFLIBNET) Centre andAhmedabad Management Association(AMA) in August 2008 in Ahmedabad.• Participated in a workshop organised byParul Arogya Seva Mandal on Impact ofInformation Communication Technology (ICT)on Library Services in August 2008 atWaghodia, Vadodara.• Attended a seminar organised byAhmedabad Management Association(AMA) on Motivating and Influencing Othersin September 2008 at Ahmedabad.Mr. Pranjal Pratim Mudoi• Attended a seminar on Expansion of Tourismfor Socio-Economic Development organisedby Assam Institute of Management (AIM),Guwahati, supported by the Ministry ofTourism and International TourismOrganisation. International and nationaldelegates from Japan and Chinaparticipated in this seminar.• Acted as a Resource Person in the DNAClub summer programme held inGuwahati by TERI Guwahati Office onMay 22, 2008.Mr. Venkat Naidu• Attended the nature camps in Dandeli,Anshi Tiger Reserve, as Resource Person.179

Ms. Mamuni Pandit• Delivered a lecture on the Role of Scienceand the Judicial Use of Science in our day today Routine and inaugurated the ScienceClub on the occasion of National ScienceDay at Sharnbasveshwar ResidentialSchool, Gulbarga on February 28, 2008.• Delivered a lecture on EnvironmentProtection and Sustainable Development at afunction organised by Vishwa JyotiFoundation, Gulbarga, at GoernmentJunior Technical College, Gulbarga on July25, 2008.• Delivered a lecture on the topics ofNoosphere - Human Influence on Environmentand Energy – The Driving Force, during theteachers training workshop on August 4,2008 at Sharnbasveshwar ResidentialSchool, Gulbarga, to help teachers guidethe students in project development forthe 16 th National Children’s ScienceCongress.• Delivered lectures on Vehicular Pollutionon February 6, 18, 21 and 28; March 30; andApril 29, 2009 in various educationalinstitutes of Gulbarga in events organisedby the Department of Road TransportHighways (Road Safety Cell), New Delhi;Ministry of Shipping, Government of India;and Dr. Nelson Mandela GrameenaAbhivarddi Seva Samasthe (R), Gulbarga.• Enrolled for a three months certificatecourse from April to July 2009, onOccupational Health and Safety, conductedby PRIA, New Delhi.Ms. Mamata Pandya• Participated in the IUCN WorldConservation Congress (WCC) held atBarcelona, Spain from October 5-10, 2008.The IUCN WCC is held every 4 years. Theten day convention is an opportunity forthe global conservation community toshare, debate, network, learn, commit, voteand plan. The Barcelona Congress had7,800 participants from 178 countries andover 900 events.The Congress theme was A diverse andsustainable world. During the four dayForum, challenges, opportunities andpotential solutions in this context wereaddressed through three streams: A newclimate for change; Healthy Environments– Healthy People; and Safeguarding thediversity of life. Diverse aspects andperspectives on these three streams werepresented and shared through a wide rangeof formats – Sustainability Dialogues,roundtable discussions, panel discussions,interactive skill building workshops,exhibitions and cinema.Ms. Pandya was invited as a panellist forthe theme Reversing a Worldwide Trend:Strategies for Solving Nature-Deficit Disorder.She shared CEE’s strategies andprogrammes that provide opportunitiesfor children to connect with nature – fromvegetable and medicinal gardens inschools, to urban green spaces, to camping.The other panellists includedrepresentatives from Mexico, Hungary andthe Netherlands. The session was wellattended and was followed by a gooddiscussion.• Was invited by the Environment Agency –Abu Dhabi (EAD) as a Resource Person tofacilitate a session at the TrainingWorkshop on UNESCO’s Water EducationProject in ASPnet schools. The workshop,held in November 2008 at Abu Dhabi, saw180

the participation of educators and teachersfrom all the Arab Emirates as well as othercountries of the region in the programmeon Water and Education in the Arab world.Network member schools in thesecountries will be using the Arab watereducation package developed by EAD.Ms. Pandya facilitated the session on EEand ESD: What, Why & How?The Associated Schools Project Network(ASPnet) is a global programme ofUNESCO through which networks ofschools carry out activities to improvequality education. About 46,000 studentsare expected to participate in theprogramme in the next two years. Thetraining programme was part of a flagshipregional project launched in 2006 for whichEAD is the international coordinator.• Participated in the Earth Charter (EC)Network Meeting at Amsterdam inDecember 2008. Most of the 140participants were Earth CharterInternational affiliates, youth groups andEC council members.CEE is one of the international affiliates ofthe Earth Charter and Mr. KartikeyaSarabhai is a member of the Earth CharterInternational Council.The meeting discussed how to raise theprofile of the EC, identify ways in whichthe EC can contribute to the UN Declarationon Human Rights, and negotiations andactions on Climate Change. Task Forceshave been set up to implement projects inspecial areas (Education, Religion,Business, Youth, UN and Media).Ms. Pandya participated in the EducationTask Force, of which CEE is an activemember.• Attended a programme on Innovation inEducation: An Interactive Seminar organisedby Ahmedabad Management Associationin July 2008.Mr. Ishwar C. Poojar• Attended the Convention of Parties (COP)Conference at Bonn, Germany in May,2008 and participated in the communitymeeting to feed the communityperspectives into the official meetings.• Participated in the evaluation exercise forthe Government of Karnataka for choosingGram Panchayats for the Nirmal GramPuraskar Awards given by the President ofIndia.• Attended the RCE Asia Pacific conferenceat Tongyeong City, South Korea duringOctober 2008.• Has been selected as member of theTechnical Advisory Committee – 2008 forevaluation of the community based projectsto give Equator Initiative awards forNGOs/CBOs.Mr. N. Ramjee• Was invited to address over 80 collegestudents of the Biology, Botany, Zoologyand Environmental Science streams, fromvarious colleges in Chennai, on The MarineWealth of Gulf of Mannar. This was as partof their Annual Programmes and was heldin the Auditorium of the Anna Universityon June 13, 2008.Dr. M. J. Ravindranth• Participated in the World Conference onEducation for Sustainable Development,Bonn, Germany from March 31 to April 2,2009 and organised a thematic workshopon the topic Teacher Education in DESDalong with Professorss Lorna Down and181

Marceline Collins, Jamaica University. Thethematic workshop report is underpreparation.Mr. Ramesh Savalia• Presented a paper on OrganizationalLearning through Asia Good ESD PracticeProject (AGEPP) of Japan Council on theUN Decade of Education for SustainableDevelopment (ESD-J)” in The 3rdInternational Meeting, held duringNovember 8-10, 2008, in Tokyo, Japan.• Presented a paper on Community basedESD in CEE: Initiatives and Perspectives inNGO Networking at the meeting forimplementation of ESD in Asia throughthe international cooperation by JapaneseNGOs, March 6, 2009, Tokyo, Japan; thiswas organised by the Ministry ofEnvironment, Japan and Japan Council onthe UN Decade of Education forSustainable Development (ESD-J).• Delivered a lecture on Micro-finance: A toolfor Community Based EcoEntrepreneurship Model, Gujarat, India at theInstitute for Global EnvironmentalStrategies (IGES), Kanagawa, Japan, onMarch 4, 2009.• Was one of the members of the AdvisoryCommittee in a collaborative study on Thestatus and perceptions about Bt. cotton inGujarat state of Gujarat Vidyapeeth, GujaratInstitute of Development Research, Centrefor Sustainable Agriculture – Hyderabadand Jatan Trust – Vadodara.Mr. Pramod Kumar Sharma• Participated in a workshop on UNCCDorganised by Lokhit Pashu Palak Sangh(LPPS) on September 17-18, 2008 at Jaipur.He shared the civil society perspectivesemerging from the two consultationsfacilitated by CEE in collaboration withMoEF.• Participated in the film screening on thetheme of water at H L Commerce collegeon September 25, and facilitateddiscussions on the various issues of water.Mr. Prajeeth Shekhawat• Along with Chetali Kapoor and SumeghaKhan of CEE West participated in aPhotography and Documentation trainingprogramme in April 2008.• Along with Chetali Kapoor, participatedin the workshop on ESD and ProposalWriting by Mr. James Hindson at CEE,Ahmedabad in December 2008.Ms. Shweta Shroff• Was invited by the Ahmedabad LibraryNetwork (ADINET) in April 2008 to delivera lecture to its members on E-learning:Trends and Opportunities for Library andInformation Science professionals.• Was invited to present a paper during theLibrarians’ Day Seminar on Current Trendsin Libraries in the Digital Era. This event wasjointly organised by Ahmedabad LibraryNetwork (ADINET), Information andLibrary Network (INFLIBNET) Centre andAhmedabad Management Association(AMA) in August 2008 in Ahmedabad.• Was invited as a Resource Person to delivera lecture to the participants of the UGCsponsored Orientation and RefresherCourse in Library Science organised bythe Gujarat University, Ahmedabad inSeptember 2008. The theme of this 2 ndRefresher Course was Quality Maintenance/Assurance in Academic Librarianship.182

• Participated in and was invited to serve asRapporteur for two technical sessions inthe ILA-TISS 2008 International Conferenceon Knowledge for All: Role of Libraries andInformation Centres. This internationalconference was jointly organised by theIndian Library Association (ILA) and theTata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) inNovember 2008 at TISS, Mumbai• Was invited to present a paper during theFirst National Conference organised bythe Gujarat Granthalaya Seva Sangh on theoccasion of its 25 th anniversary in December2008 in Ahmedabad. Has also won theBest Paper Presentation prize during thisconference for her paper on KnowledgeEntrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship in theContext of Library and Information Services.• Was invited by the Ahmedabad LibraryNetwork (ADINET) to conduct a one dayAwareness Programme for MLIS studentsof Gujarat in December 2008 inAhmedabad. Was also invited as aResource Person for this programme for alecture-presentation on SupplementingTraditional Learning with E-learning. Thefirst of its kind in Gujarat and probably inIndia, this programme which was jointlyorganised by ADINET, Department ofLibrary and Information Science (LIS) ofGujarat University, and Information andLibrary Network (INFLIBNET) Centre, wasattended by about 125 students from sixLIS departments of various universities ofGujarat.• Participated in the Seminar-cumevaluationWorkshop of ENVIS Centresunder the thematic group Environment andSociety, organised by MoEF at IndianNational Science Academy, New Delhi inFebruary 2009. Also made a presentationduring the Evaluation Workshop on ENVISactivities of CEE• Was invited to deliver an Expert Lectureon Changing Role of Library and InformationCentres in Society under the Guest LectureSeries of the Department of Library andInformation Science, Gujarat University,Ahmedabad in March 2009.Mr. Radhey Shyam & Mr. Siddharth Bose• Participated in a training programme ESDand Project Writing organised by CEE atAhmedabad and conducted by Dr. JamesHindson of FSC, UK from December 8-9,2008.• Attended a training on Environment ImpactAssessment held at World Wildlife Institute,Dehradun March 2-6, 2009.Ms. Ajanta Sikdar• Attended the three week Swedishcomponent of the International TrainingProgramme in ESD and Formal Education2008 as an Observer.Ms. Memma Singha• Participated as a Resource Person in aradio discussion on Role of NGOs inSustainable Development. All India Radio,Guwahati broadcasted the discussion inJanuary 2007.Ms. Aparna Susarla• Participated in the Asian Youth ClimateSummit (AYCS), 2008, organised by theHong Kong Climate Change Coalition(HKCCC) with support from CEDARS(Center for Development and Resources)at Hong Kong University (HKU) from July15-19, 2009. About 160 delegates from 22countries and regions participated in thisfive day Summit.183

Ms. Shubhangi Wankhede• Gave a lecture on solid waste managementat Bangalore Medical College on April 2,2008. The event was organised on theWorld Health Day theme by the IndianMedical Association in collaboration withBangalore Medical College and theDirectorate of Health & Family WelfareServices, Government of Karnataka andwas attended by 150 participants.• Along with Dr Shyamala Mani, attendedthe closure workshop of Indo-NorwegianEnvironment Programme (INEP) titled‘INEP and Environmental Intervention inKarnataka: Key Impacts, Learning and theWay Forward’ at Gateway Hotel,Residency Road, Bangalore, on November21-22, 2008. During the workshop, DrShyamala Mani made a presentation onthe HEWMEP Gulbarga project executedwith funding from INEP.• Delivered a lecture on solid waste managementto some 100 students during thesensitisation programme organised by theJain Group of Institutions - Community RadioStation called ‘Radio Active’ in associationwith Eco Watch, on January 30, 2009.• Conducted a 6 day personalitydevelopment workshop for the children ofKihim village from October 19-24, 2008, inwhich 19 children participated. Theobjectives of the programme were tounleash the hidden potential of children,overcome their past conditioning andlimiting beliefs, inculcate leadership traitsand success strategies amongst thechildren, enhance their confidence,enthusiasm and human relationships. Theprogramme also aimed to inculcate a senseof respect towards the resources availableand their management. It provided thecandidates with basic information onecology and environment and on how anindividual can contribute to sustainabledevelopment. The workshop helped thechildren in developing an overall winningpersonality.Mr. Mubashir Sultan Zargar• Participated in a five day trainingprogramme on Community Based DisasterManagement (CBDM) organised by Red RIndia at Pune during December 16-20, 2008.Twenty three participants, including 11from six other countries, attended thetraining programme. Some of the skillsimparted during the training includeunderstanding of society - giving enoughspace to the community to learn, providingspace to women to express, how tocommunicate with the community andbuild relationships, involving all sectionsof community (male, female, children andelders), going beyond focus, using differenttechniques of PRA and PVA suitable tovarious cultural backgrounds of thecommunity, understanding hazard, risk,vulnerability and capacity and the interrelationships amongst these. As a part ofthe training, participants were taken to anearby tribal village where the CBDMexercise was conducted with theinvolvement of the village community.• Along with Radhey Shyam, participatedin a seminar organised by the AgricultureDepartment of Baramulla district, Jammu& Kashmir, for NGOs on March 22, 2009.The main objective of the seminar was toenhance the interaction and collaborationof the government and different NGOsworking in the area, especially in the fieldof agriculture. They shared CEE’sintervention on technology demonstrationas part of the earthquake rehabilitationprogramme.184