Teachers’ Orientation Workshop under Paryavaran Mitra programme

Date: 26.02.2011

Venue: Saras Kendra, Vikash Bhavan, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh To introduce the Paryavaran Mitra programme in the schools of Allahabad districts a one day teacher orientation programme was organized on 26th February 2011. The programme was organized by a Allahabad based NGO – e-Pahel, a partner agency under Paryavaran Mitra Programme of CEE, supported by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and ArcelorMittal Group. The programme was attended by 60 teachers and principals of different schools across the district. The inaugural session was attended by Chief Guest: Dr. Neeraj Agarwal, Director, Vatsalya Hospital, Dr. G. Lal; Special Guest: Dr. Prasanna Kr. Chatterji, Science Teacher, Anglo Bangali Inter College, Allahabad, Mr. Ashutosh Kr. Dwivedi, Project Officer, CEE. The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Neeraj Agarwal, Director, Vatsalya Hospital, Allahabad. During the inaugural speech, Dr. Agarwal emphasize over the hazard created by the polythene. He also put forth the impact of garbage disposal in polythene bags on animals. He said that as a concerned citizen we have to take few steps to conserve our planet. He emphasize over the importance of creating awareness among the children. Dr. G. Lal, Principal of one of the school put forth his knowledge and work related to water and its conservation and said that in today’s world many people lack the facilities of pure drinking water. He also informed the participants about the work done by his school children in this regard. He said that I hope that the teachers and principals of the schools present in this workshop will do this kind of work in future as well to become Paryavaran Mitra School. After the inaugural programme, Dr. Gopal Krishna, Director, e-pahel Organization, made a presentation on Paryavaran Mitra Programme. During his presentation he briefly talks about Paryavaran Mitra Programme, the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders, and activities which could be taken up by the schools. He also suggested interesting hands on activities which could be easily performed in and around school. Later on the technical sessions was start, with a presentation on Climate Change which was done by Mr. Ashutosh from CEE North. He briefly talks about the science of climate change, the impacts and our individual roles and responsibilities or Paryavaran Mitra steps to reduce the impact of climate change. During his presentation he also informed the participants about importance of Climate change education and Paryavaran Mitra Activity, which could be easily done by schools. At the end of his session he talks about the reporting mechanism of the Paryavaran Mitra Activity, which would be done by the teacher in-charge to the respective partner agencies or CEE.

After this a presentation on Water Resource Depletion and its impact on Allahabad region, was done by Dr. Prasanna Kr. Chatterji, Teacher, Anglo Bangali Inter College, Allahabad. He put forth his experience and research work related to ground water depletion in the region of Allahabad. In his session he briefly talks about the past and present scenario of ground water resources in Allahabad. At the end his session he said that we have to think and take action seriously on this issue otherwise, our future generation will fight for one drop of precious water. In the pre lunch session, a movie “An Inconvenient Truth” was screened to the participants. The movie worked a lot in sensitizing the participants. Post lunch sessions involved group work involving reading and understanding of the Paryavaran Mitra package. The participants were grouped into five different groups according to the theme and each group had been assigned to prepare an action plan according to their school situation for becoming a Paryavaran Mitra School. Later each group studied the booklet and presented the topic in context of how they would transact the information in the classroom. Each group presented topics assigned to them and at the end the entire group was able to understand the booklet, its topics and activities. During the session, some of the teachers/principals urged that the Paryavaran Mitra Programme team in e-pahel and representative from CEE as well to come to their schools and perform the similar activities. The one day orientation programme ended with vote of thanks.

Reflections: Dr. Prasanna Kr. Chatterji, Teacher, Anglo Bangali Inter College, Allahabad said earlier the NGC eco club of the school have done only plantation activity but through the information provided by the booklet we came to know about the other activities which could be done easily without any financial support. Thanks to e-pahel and CEE for bringing such a fantastic programme for schools. He also said that after enrollment, he starts the Paryavaran Mitra activity and banned the use of polythene in the school premises. Apart from this he also started the waste management practices in the school.

Teachers’ Orientation Workshop under Paryavaran Mitra programme

Date: 10.03.2011

Venue: Gram Vikas Bhawan, Basti, Uttar Pradesh One day teacher orientation programme was organized in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh on 10th March 2011. The programme was organized by a Siddharth Nagar based NGO – Shohratgarh Environmental Society, Regional Resource Agency, National Environment Awareness Campaign (NEAC) for Eastern U.P. and a partner agency under Paryavaran Mitra Programme of CEE, supported by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and ArcelorMittal Group. The programme was attended by 50 teachers of different schools across the district. In inaugural session Mr. Pankaj Srivastava, District Training Officer, Basti was present as chief guest and a Mr. Ram Lalit Yadav, Social Worker as special guest. During the inaugural session, Mr. Pankaj Srivastava said that the Paryavaran Mitra Programme is a unique programme, which is basically focuses on cooperation of students and teacher both. He emphasized that the need of training of the teachers in respect to the implementation of the programme in and around the schools. He suggested that in next training few students should also be invited as a participant. After that Mr. Ram Lalit Yadav, environmentalist cum social worker, emphasized over the cooperation general people in the conservation effort and said that without the cooperation of the community and general people, the conservation efforts is meaningless. After the inaugural session, Mr. Devendra Singh made a presentation on Paryavaran Mitra Programme. During his presentation he briefly told about Paryavaran Mitra Programme, the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders. After that then Mr. Apurva Srivastava (Master Trainer, SES) told about activities which could be taken up by the schools. He also suggested interesting hands activities which could be easily performed in and around school. At the end of his session he told about the reporting mechanism of the Paryavaran Mitra Activity, which would be done by the teacher in-charge to the respective partner agencies or CEE. After this a presentation on Climate Change Concerns and Challenges for Sustainability was done where discussion held on Green House Effect and its consequences on the environment. At the end of session, participants were briefed about different Paryavaran

Mitra steps, which could be easily taken up by the individual to bring the change in next few years. In the pre lunch session, a movie “An Inconvenient Truth” was screened to the participants. Film was appreciated by the participants.

Reflections: Mr. Pankaj Srivastava, District Training Officer, Gram Vikas Sansthan, Basti said that according to my knowledge I had not seen such type of hands on activity based programme which is exclusively focusing on the cooperation of students and teachers in the field of environment conservation. Mrs. Meena Raj (participant) said that we have done only plantation activity under NGC programme, but through this programme we came to know about the other activities which could be done easily without much or any financial support.

After lunch participants were grouped into five different groups and each group was assigned to prepare an action plan according to their school situation for becoming a Paryavaran Mitra School. Later each group studied the booklet and presented the topics in context of how they would transact the information in the classroom. Each group presented topics assigned to them and at the end the entire group was able to understand the booklet and its topics. During the session, time line was also finalized. The one day orientation programme ended with vote of thanks by Mr. Ram Lalit Yadav.

Teachers’ Orientation Workshop under Paryavaran Mitra programme

Date: 15.03.2011

Venue: Maharshi Dayanand Juniour High School, Pipraich, Gorakhpur Uttar Pradesh

One day teacher orientation programme was organized in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh on 15th March 2011. The programme was organized by Siddharthanagar based NGO – Shohratgarh Environmental Society (SES), a partner agency under Paryavaran Mitra Programme of CEE, supported by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and ArcelorMittal Group. The programme was attended by 50 teachers of different schools across the district. During the inaugural session, Mr. Dinesh Upadhyay, Lecturer, M. G. Inter College, Gorakhpur said that the resource materials provide under the Paryavaran Mitra Programme is really a good resource for those schools, which has very keen interest in environment and its conservation efforts. He emphasized that taking care of that plant is more important than the plantation. He also emphasized over the cooperation of teachers and students in conserving the environment. After the inaugural session Mr. Devendra Singh Coordinator, Sahyog (Network of NGOs) gave a presentation on Paryavaran Mitra Programme. During his presentation he described about Paryavaran Mitra Programme, the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders and activities which could be taken up by the schools. After the brief introduction of Paryavaran Mitra Programme, Mr. Apurva Srivastava, SES suggested interesting hands on activities of the booklet which could be easily performed in and around school. Hands on activity “Energy Relay” was also performed by Mr. Apurva to showcase the loss of energy during the transmission of electricity and he also emphasized over the importance of conservation of energy. Later on the technical sessions held with a presentation on Climate Change Concerns and Challenges for Sustainability, which was done by Mr. Apurva. In his presentation he informed about the science of climate change, the

impacts and our individual roles and responsibilities. In the pre lunch session, a film “An Inconvenient Truth” was shown to the participants. Post lunch sessions involved group work involving going through the resource material and understanding of the Paryavaran Mitra package. The participants were grouped into five different groups according to the theme and each group had been assigned to prepare an action plan according to their school situation for becoming a Paryavaran Mitra School. Later on each group studied the booklet and presented the topic in context of how they would transfer the information in the classroom. At the end of the session, discussion held on reporting mechanism of the Paryavaran Mitra Activity. During the session, some of the teachers urged that the Paryavaran Mitra Programme team in SES NGO and representative from CEE as well to come to their schools and perform the similar activities. Moreover the participants repeated their agreement and commitment towards Paryavaran Mitra Programme.

Teachers’ Orientation Workshop under Paryavaran Mitra programme

Date: 05.02.2011

Venue: Jai Narayan Vidya Mandir Inter College Vikas Nagar, Kanpur The “Paryavaran Mitra” Programme was formally launched in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh on 05th February 2011 through teacher orientation programme, which was organized by a Kanpur based NGO – GANGA, a partner agency under Paryavaran Mitra Programme of CEE, supported by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and ArcelorMittal Group. The programme was attended by 47 teachers/principals of various schools across the district. The inaugural session was attended by Chief Guest: Mr. B. R. Ahirwar (IFS), District Forest Officer, Kanpur Nagar District; Special Guest: Mr. Arun Shukla, Assistant DIOS, Kanpur Nagar District; Special Invitee: Mr. Sant Ram Dwivedi, Principal Jai Narayan Vidya Mandir. The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. B.R. Ahirwar (IFS), District Forest Officer, Kanpur Nagar District. During the inaugural speech, Mr. Ahirwar emphasize over the cooperation of teachers and students in conserving the environment and said that only forest department will not be able to do all. He also focused that the NGOs are working as bridge between the Government and the Community. Mr. Arun Shukla, Assistant DIOS, Kanpur Nagar District urged that the old conventional practices of living are more environment friendly like using Bicycle. He also emphasized on conservation of water and said that teacher and students have the capability to promote the Paryavaran Mitra actions. After the inaugural programme, Dr. Vivek Mishra, Secretary, GANGA Organization, made a presentation on Paryavaran Mitra Programme in context of Kanpur. During the introduction it was made clear the components of Paryavaran Mitra programme, roles and responsibilities, and material support provided in the programme. He also suggested interesting ways and techniques to attract the children and which could be easily performed in and around school. Later on during the technical session, a presentation on Climate Change Concerns and Challenges for Sustainability was done by Mr. Vijai Kumar, Environment Consultant. He

informed about the hazardous substances and gases emerging out in our day to day life. In the pre lunch session, a movie “An Inconvenient Truth” was screened to the participants. The movie worked a lot in sensitizing the participants. Post lunch sessions involved group work involving reading and understanding of the Paryavaran Mitra package. The participants were grouped into five different groups and each group had been assigned to prepare an action plan according to their school situation for becoming a Paryavaran Mitra School. Later each group studied the booklet and presented the topic in context of how they would transact the information in the classroom. Each group presented topics assigned to them and at the end the entire group was able to understand the booklet and its topics. During the session, some of the teachers/principals urged that the Paryavaran Mitra Programme team in GANGA NGO, to come to their schools and perform the similar activities. Moreover the participants repeated their agreement and commitment towards Paryavaran Mitra Programme. At the end of the session, Mr. Anil Mishra, teacher, gave the slogan “vriksha sanrakshan karenge, paryavaran mitra banenge”. The one day orientation programme ended with vote of thanks.

Reflections from the teachers: Mrs. Maya Singh, Principal, Sardar Patel High School, Kanpur said that after attending the workshop and studying the material, I will urg my students not to waste water and plan to reuse the water by diverting it towards plants instead of being wasted away after use. Mrs. Sneh Lata Awasthi, Kanya Vidyalaya Jr. High School, Kanpur decided to promote jute and cloth bags and will discourage use of polythene bags in schools.

Paryavaran Mitra Programme One Day Teacher’s Orientation Workshop

Date – 08-3-2011 Venue – St. Thomas Public School, Ghughuli, Maharajganj

The Paryavaran Mitra programme was initiated in district Maharajganj from December 2010, in which Shohratgarh Environmental Society (SES) contacted different schools. But the programme was formally launched in Maharajganj district on 8 March 2011 through teacher’s orientation workshop which was organized by SES, a partner agency of CEE supported by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and ArcelorMittal group. The workshop was attended by 47 teachers and principals of different schools across the district. In the programme, Mr. N. P. Srivastava (Secretary, Samaj Kalyan Bal Vikas Sansthan-NGO) was invited as a Chief guest. During the inaugural speech, Mr. N. P. Srivastava (Environmentalist) emphasized that the cooperation of teachers as well as students is very critical in conserving environment. He said that every individual action is important in the conservation effort by saying a famous quote “Boond-Boond se Sagar Banta hai”. He focused that the NGOs are working as a connecting link between Government and community. He also said that old practices of living our life were more environment friendly than now. He urged on conservation of water and said that we have the capability to promote the “Paryavaran Mitra” actions in and around the schools. After the inaugural session Mr. Devendra Singh coordinator of Sahyog (Network of NGOs), made a presentation about SES and NEAC programme, in which he talked about the evolution of Sohratgarh Environment Society and its activities in the State. Later on Mr. Apurva Srivastava (Master trainer of Paryavaran Mitra Programme), SES started the technical session with a presentation on climate change concerns and challenges for sustainability. In his presentation he informed about the science of climate change, the impacts and our individual roles and responsibilities. He also suggested interesting ways and techniques to attract the children and which could be easily performed in the school. In the pre lunch session, a film “An Inconvenient Truth” was shown to the participants. Post lunch sessions involved group work involving reading and understanding of the Paryavaran Mitra package and case study of the activities done by National Green Corps (NGC) schools (provided by CEE). The participants were grouped into six different groups and each group had

been assigned to prepare an action plan according to their school situation for becoming a Paryavaran Mitra School. Later on each group studied the booklet and presented the topic in context of how they would transfer the information in the classroom. During the session, some of the teachers urged that the Paryavaran Mitra Programme team of also visit our schools and perform the similar activities. All the group discussion session was facilitated by Mr. Apurva and Mr. Devendra. The one day orientation programme ended with vote of thanks by Father of St. Thomas School.

Reflections from the teachers: Mr. Bahadur Singh, Head teacher, Khadi Gramodyog Jan Shikshan Sanshthan, Ghughuli, said that from now I will try to convince the students of my school to not use the polythene bags in the schools and house. Whereas Mr. Anoop Nayar, Principal St. Thomas School decided to promote the energy conservation efforts by switching off lights and fans before leaving the class rooms.

Paryavaran Mitra programme in Siddharth Nagar District

Compiled by: Shohratgarh Environment Society (SES), Siddharthnagar, Uttar Pradesh

The Paryavaran Mitra programme was initiated by SES in Siddharthnagar in February 2011 but actually the programme planning, orientation of team members and informal discussions with school staff started in December 2010.

The positive response from the schools and teachers lead the organization towards organizing teachers’ orientation programme on 12

th March 2011. Total 41

teachers attended the workshop. The workshop was divided into four sessions. The first session was coordinated by Dr. B. C. Srivastava, Secretary, SES and he introduced about history of SES and future planning. During the inaugural sessions of the workshop Dr. B. C. Srivastava emphasized over the cooperation of teachers and students in conserving the environment. In 2nd session Mr. Apurva Srivastava, briefed participants about Paryavaran Mitra Programme and its objectives. He also informed the participants about Kaun Banega Bharat Ka Paryavaran Ambassador and Pick Right campaign of MoEF and CEE North. He also explained the science of Climate Change and its impacts on the environment. The 3rd session began with the movie screening on climate change “An Inconvenient Truth”. The group exercise session was the most important and interesting session where the participants were asked to prepare a plan according to their schools for doing Paryavaran Mitra activities. Some of the teachers urged the need to the team to come to their schools and perform the similar activities and some teachers suggested to approach the NCC cadets and scouts camp to sensitize them also.

In 4th session future plan of action was discussed. Discussion held on reporting mechanism of the Paryavaran Mitra Activity.

Teachers’ Orientation Workshop under Paryavaran Mitra programme

Date: 10.03.2011

Venue: Government Inter College (Boys), Unnao, Uttar Pradesh One day teacher orientation programme was organized in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh on 10th March 2011. The programme was organized by a Kanpur based NGO – GANGA, a partner agency under Paryavaran Mitra Programme of CEE, supported by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India and ArcelorMittal Group. The programme was attended by 55 teachers and principals of different schools across the district. The inaugural session was attended by Chief Guest: Mr. Govind Saran, Assistant Conservator of Forest, Unnao District; Special Guest: Mr. Amrendra Singh, District Inspector of School, Unnao District, Mr. Nanhelal Verma, District Health Officer, Unnao. The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. Govind Saran, Assistant Conservator of Forest, Unnao District. During the inaugural speech, Mr. Verma emphasize over the plantation activity done by forest department as well as different schools of the district. He said that plantation is a good activity, but taking care of that plant is much better activity. Mr. Amrendra Singh, DIOS, Unnao District emphasize over the cooperation of teachers and students in conserving the environment. He said that in Unnao district few schools have done a tremendous work in the field of environment conservation and I hope that those schools will continue to do this kind of work in future as well to become Paryavaran Mitra School. After the inaugural programme, Dr. Vivek Mishra, Secretary, GANGA Organization, made a presentation on Paryavaran Mitra Programme. During his presentation he briefly talked about Paryavaran Mitra Programme, the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders, and activities which could be taken up by the schools. He also suggested interesting hands on activities which could be easily performed in and around school. During the technical session a presentation on National Green Corps (NGC) programme of the MoEF was done by Mr. Ashutosh from CEE North. He briefly talked about the objectives of NGC programme, the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder at every level and how paryavaran mitra programme is planned to strengthen NGC programme nationally.

After this a presentation on Climate Change Concerns and Challenges for Sustainability, was done by Consultant Mr. Vijay Kumar. He informed spoke about the global, national and local scenario. In his session, he also briefly talked about Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) and its consequences on the environment. At the end of the session, he talked about individual Paryavaran Mitra steps, which could be easily taken up by the people to bring the change in next few years. In the pre lunch session, a movie “An Inconvenient Truth” was screened to the participants. The movie helped in clarifying concepts and also sensitizing the participants. Post lunch sessions involved group work involving going through Paryavaran Mitra package where participants were grouped into five different thematic groups. Each group was assigned to prepare an action plan according to their school situation for becoming a Paryavaran Mitra School. Each group studied the booklet and presented the theme in context of how they would transact the information in the classroom and school. Discussion held on reporting mechanism of the Paryavaran Mitra Activity, which would be sent by the teacher in-charge to the respective partner agencies or CEE. During the session, some of the teachers/principals urged that the Paryavaran Mitra Programme team in GANGA NGO and representative from CEE as well to come to their schools and perform the similar activities. Moreover the participants repeated their agreement and commitment towards Paryavaran Mitra Programme. The one day orientation programme ended with vote of thanks.

Reflections: Mr. Govind Saran, Assistant Conservator of Forest, Unnao District said that from last 6 years of his working time, he has not seen such a vibrant programme in the district, which is exclusively focuses on the cooperation of students and teachers in the field of environment conservation. One of the participant said that we have done only plantation activity under NGC programme, but now with this innovative programme we know what all can be done in our schools where hardly any financial support would be required.