Submitted by Dr. Biswajit De
This is an after movie the students of the fourth cohort of the Wildroots-India Youth Climate & Conservation Fellowship Programme prepared to showcase their experience.
The Wildroots-India Youth Climate & Conservation Fellowship Programme (YCCFP), inspired by #NatureForAll, has evolved to be one of the most prominent and significant environmental education fellowship programmes of India.
Initially funded by the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication, the fourth cohort of the YCCFP was organised at Sohra, Cherrapunjee, in the Indian State of Meghalaya, with the theme ‘Adventure & Exploration’. The Programme was hosted by the Sa-I-Mika Resort, located right amidst nature, in North East’s India’s own ‘Scotland’.
This session featured 45 student participants and four educators from four enterprising Indian Schools: Delhi Public School (Raipur), Delhi Public School (Bangalore South), Indirapuram Public School (Ghaziabad) and Bal Bharti Public School (Rohini, Delhi).
Participants from the previous cohorts were invited as student coordinators and plenary Speakers for the conference section of the programme, which featured power-packed presentations on topics like Tech for Climate Awareness, Strategies to Design Climate Awareness Start-Ups, Measures to Mitigate Problems from Fast Fashion, Youth Empowerment and Climate Policies, School-based Solutions for the Environment and many more.
The venue in Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya, has the largest network of limestone caves where gastropod fossils dating back to the Cretaceous Period have been found. Sohra also has many sites where thrombolites and stromatolites are found. Being in that place itself added to the adventure element of the programme. Students were actively engaged in fossil studies, birding and biodiversity surveys, and the learning outcomes were significant.
The students were guided by the members of WildRoots and the people of the local Khasi Tribal Communities, who have been trained by Dr. De over the past few years in Eco-Tourism and Conservation.
The Fellowship Programme has expanded quite well as the cascading learning outcomes have reached more than 2,600 students, in the participating schools, which have already designed wonderful follow-up projects and action plans, that have actually helped us weave the community of students and educators in the Indian Schools.
Here are some of the wonderful follow-up videos from students showcasing their projects
Sahana Rajaraman & Aditi B Vasishta, from Delhi Public School Bangalore South https://youtu.be/Mrhrhm3gViM
Shrihan T and Saarvesh MR from Delhi Public School Bangalore South https://youtu.be/6AGebAHNdpc
Nidhi R. Reddy from DPS, Bangalore South https://youtu.be/CAFYUGjnwmA
Alisha Khan, from Delhi Public School, Raipur https://youtu.be/Z5i_IT6FMhM
Mansi Shadija, from Delhi Public School, Raipur https://youtu.be/_008h-o8pG8
Myra Arora, Annanya Gandhi, Adeetya Kakkarr, Kashvi Arora, Adah Narang, Ishita Singhal, Mayra Goel from Bal Bharati Public School, New Delhi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFL8S6NmE8U