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The green bus with its vibrantly painted exterior is now a
familiar sight in Ahmedabad, Surat, Bharuch, Gandhinagar,
Vadodara, Tapi and many other places around Gujarat.
The idea for such a bus came five years ago from the Club of
Youth Working for the Environment (CYWEN). They felt:
• Young people could be Environment Educators
• Young people need resources to carry out awareness
programme
CEE started to explore concept of a mobile resource centre – Prakriti Environment Education Bus – with support from
BG India and Gujarat Gas Company Limited (GGCL). The
content and communication design was decided through
discussions with teachers, youth, educationists etc.
Prakriti was launched in September 2005 by Shri Narendra
Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat in Gandhinagar. The launch
began an era of CNG as well as accessible environment
education beginning with the districts of Ahmedabad,
Surat and Bharuch.
The Bus Structure
The bus is built on a Swaraj Mazda chassis and it runs
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The sides have been
modified to make information panels. While the bus is
moving, these sections are closed and covered by glass
shutters. The side panels have:
Sanskriti Menon |
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A collage featuring people, lifestyle and places (cultural
heritage) of Gujarat appears on one side of the bus
Panels on natural heritage highlighting the richness of
biodiversity.
The back of the bus is used to display 3D models and to
screen films. The bus carries with it a screen, speakers,
LCD projector, generator, computer system and a public
address (PA) system.
The bus is a one stop-shop for environment education.
Users can set up an exhibition, activities, games, film
shows, demonstrations, puppet-shows and conduct group
discussions. Reference resource materials on various issues
are also placed inside the bus, for those interested in more
details on any particular issue.
Prakriti Visits and Partnerships
Having created the bus, the next step was to organize its
visits, mainly to areas where access was limited or existing
systems had not been able to reach.
CYWEN chose to partner with local organisation working
with youth: Nature Club Surat and the Nehru Yuva Kendra,
Bharuch. Both these local partners have a strong youth
volunteer base and youth were trained and oriented to
carry out Prakriti programmes in their respective districts.
The first point of entry of the bus was through rural and
urban schools. Over the years this expanded to events,
programmes organised by groups, companies, corporate
social responsibility projects, colleges and schools in
neighbouring districts such as Gandhinagar, Tapi, and
Vadodara.
A typical activity includes the bus exhibition, games,
activities, film shows, demonstrations and discussions.
All these require well grounded, patient and enthusiastic
individuals. The core team comprises one programme staff,
one project staff, two interns, and the most important
member, the driver of the bus. The strength of the Prakriti
bus is its core team and the volunteers that help organise
and carry out events.
Prakriti works on strengthening existing forums and
platforms by providing resources, support, guidance and
expertise over a period of time, to help such forums
conduct their activities more effectively.
Prakriti also reaches out to schools through the eco-clubs
set up and run as a part of the National Green Corps
programme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests,
Government of India. Eco-clubs have taken up the issues
of health, biodiversity, plastic management, renewable
energy, herbal medicines and plants, deforestation, noise
pollution in their yearly projects.
Prakriti Projects
Projects have been undertaken by schools on concerns in
their immediate environment. One such issue focussed
is biodiversity. Projects include those on Spiders, Birds,
Mosquitoes and their impact on health; medicinal plants
and how they can be used to make home remedies for
various ailments. A school in Surat has also done a
survey on the types of trees in Surat city. “The children
interviewed doctors from the local hospital to get their
expert advice on the types of mosquitoes, their life cycle
and the diseases they cause.” Eco-club teacher, Bharuch “The children were shocked to find out the number of
birds that had either gone extinct or were on the verge of
extinction in their areas.” Eco-club teacher, Bharuch.
Few eco-club Prakriti schools focussed on maintaining
the greenery on the school grounds and also cultivated
green patches with flowering plants; vegetable plants and
medicinal plants. Two schools have initiated the practice
of giving children from the eco-clubs saplings to plant in
their homes and take care of them. “We do a continuous
follow up with the children as to how their plants are
faring. Those who don’t have space around their houses,
we’ve given them potted plants.” Principal of Anjuman-EIslam
High School, Ahmedabad.
At the end of the year an event which brings together the
entire year’s learning, partners, collaborators, groups of
youth and children is organised. It is a meeting of ideas,
innovation, creativity and a platform to share and learn
from the experiences of the students, teachers and youth
volunteers. The event is held either at a district level or
at the State level and has competitions, presentations,
training sessions, workshops, cultural programmes, bird
watching sessions and other excursions.
The event also provides an opportunity for the Prakriti
team to evaluate the year gone by and plan for the up
coming year.
Prakriti’s programmes have evolved over the last three
years from generic outreach to all NGC schools to a more
focussed one with selected schools that are interested in
collaborating with Prakriti.
Prakriti has also collaborated with the Gujarat Paguthan
Energy Corporation (GPEC), for their CSR programme in
ten villages in Bharuch. In the past year (2008) Prakriti
focused on “Ecofriendly festivals” to convey the impacts
of synthetic colours used during holi on health and the
environment, while also providing an option of organic
colours. During the last three years, over 100 youth
particularly from the three project districts have been
involved as educators for conducting programmes. For
these young people, engagement with Prakriti was a good
learning experience.
Using the Prakriti experience, a youth organisation in
Vallabhvidyanagar has initiated its own resource centre.
Nature Club Surat too is developing a programme to
provide opportunities for youth to play the role of
educators. Resource centres such as these are good tools
for environment education.
For more information contact:
Gopal Jain
Centre for Environment Education
Nehru Foundation for Development
Thaltej Tekra, Ahmedabad 380054
Ph: 079 26858002; Fax: 079 26858010
Email: gopal.jain@ceeindia.org
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| Prakriti used innovative media to disseminate information on environment and create awareness among the target audience. These included panel
exhibitions, quiz competition, games and activities, interactive models, activities, films and slide shows, puppet shows, role plays and printed
material such as activity manuals, posters, pamphlets and brochures. |
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