CEE Himalaya organised an awareness programme on Waste Management at Gangotri, Uttarakhand on June 14, 2016. The programme commenced with a brief introduction of CEE and its work. Various IEC materials developed by CEE were displayed. Several messages were imparted through pictures to spread awareness regarding a clean environment and the need for appropriate waste disposal. The concept of eco-tourism was introduced by quoting the ‘Kedarnath tragedy’ and the devastating impacts that conventional tourism has on fragile ecosystems of the mountains. The team, including interns from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati, Assam, discussed river pollution with ‘sadhus’ and motivated them to create awareness about clean and green environment. The awareness programme concluded with a cleanliness drive. It was attended by more than 40 people.

Water Aid in collaboration with Uttar Pradesh WASH Forum organised a civil society consultation on the Draft Bill on June 24, 2016 in University of Lucknow. Deliberations and open forum formed major part of the consultation. The key speakers and the panellists shared their views and provided suggestions on the Water Bill. Dr. Abdhesh Gangwar, Programme Director, CEE Himalaya and CEE North East was one of the key speakers. The recommendations from the consultation were signed and sent to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India.

The Ministry had constituted a committee to draft a legislation for the regulation and management of water resources under chairmanship of Dr. Mihir Shah. The committee came up with two legislations−Draft National Water Framework Bill and Draft Ground Water Model Bill. Both these draft bills were available for comments and suggestions.

Sundarvan, CEE’s Nature Discovery Centre, organised a one-day workshop on Odonata (Order of carnivorous insects−dragonflies and damselflies) conducted by Mr. David Raju, a renowned photographer and naturalist. The workshop included introduction and fascinating facts about dragonflies and damselflies. Various tips on photographing insects were also provided. A field session was concluded at Thol, a wetland 30 kms from Ahmedabad, and other nearby wetlands took place. 20 people including students as well as professionals attended the workshop.

A week-long exhibition of photographs of dragonflies and damselflies taken by Mr. Raju from all over India, was held at Sundarvan. A two hour talk on ‘Wildlife of Central India’ was also arranged. In the talk, Mr. Raju shared his experiences of photographing the wildlife and gave insight into behavioural traits of wildlife. The talk concluded with a round of questions and further discussions. Around 25 people attended the talk.

CEE is organising an eight-week long Certificate Course in Climate Change for science communicators of Science Express Climate Action Special (SECAS). It was inaugurated by the chief guest, Mr. R.R. Rashmi, Additional Secretary, MoEF&CC, on June 20, 2016, at CEE, Ahmedabad. The certificate course aims at providing an in-depth knowledge on climate change solutions and Handprint activities, international negotiations, and policy. It simultaneously deals with the aspects of communication and management.

Mr. Kartikeya Sarabhai, Director, CEE, welcomed the chief guest, and gave a brief introduction about the course. He spoke about the relevance of communication in raising awareness and educating people about different climate change issues. He spoke about the outreach and success of SECAS. Mr. R. R. Rashmi spoke the challenges of climate change, and emphasised on the need to follow scientific principles in dealing with climate change. He mentioned about the principle of ‘Common but Differentiated Responsibilities’. Mr. Dilip Surkar, Director, Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC), gave a short presentation on the journey of the Science Express since its inception in 2007. He stressed on the importance of communication in creating awareness on the issue. Ms. Rixa Schwarz, Programme Coordinator, Sustainable Business and Climate Change (SBCC), CEE, shared the objectives and outline of the course.

CEE’s Industrial Pollution Prevention (IPP) Group organised a workshop on Hazardous Waste Management in Ahmedabad, on June 17, 2016. Source segregation of wastes has become mandatory to channelise waste to wealth by recovery, reuse and recycle. This workshop presented various forward-looking themes pertaining to dynamic hazardous waste management. The workshop was an opportunity to discuss both technical and regulatory issues in the field of hazardous waste management. Presentations were made by experts from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB), National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH), National Productivity Council (NPC), and Indian Rare Earths Ltd. It concluded with recommendations from experts in the field. These will be sent to State government of Gujarat and Central government for effective implementation of the new rules.

The Government of India has introduced new version of Hazardous Waste Rules scrapping all the previous rules, on April 4, 2016 with a specific emphasis on co-processing and utilization of waste as raw material or as a fuel.

CEE is the ENVIS centre on Environmental Education (EE). As an ENVIS centre, CEE caters to the information needs of environmental educators. Write to the CEE ENVIS Centre at [email protected]

Under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) scheme in the state of Uttar Pradesh, an executive and a steering committee were formed. CEE North has been nominated as NGO member on both the committees for a period of two years.

The steering committee meeting was held on June 24, 2016, under the chairmanship of Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) to discuss the annual action plan for the State.  Ms. Preeti R. Kanaujia, Senior Programme Coordinator represents CEE North on both the committees. Her inputs in the steering committee meeting were accepted and added to the annual action plan. Mr. Sagar Suri represented CEE North on behalf of Ms. Kanaujia in the executive committee meeting which reviewed the overall plan under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary.

Annual review meet for rural youth-volunteers from villages of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was conducted on June 7, 2016 at Lucknow. The aim of the workshop was to share experiences of volunteers from different villages and make project plans for the following year’s activities. Volunteers were provided with resource kits to help in carrying out observations, implementing activities, organiseing local level meetings, and documenting them. The workshop concluded with confirmation of the annual action plan by the participants. Over 24 participants including youth-volunteers and the project team attended the workshop.

Under the Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Education Programme, a one-day annual NGOs’ meet was organised at Lucknow on June 17, 2016. Each NGO shared the progress of activities in its school cluster. Role of teachers in success of the programme was emphasized by the CEE team. Various technical sessions on SWOT, report writing, etc., were conducted to build NGOs’ capacity for implementation of the programme. It was decided to constitute an award — ‘Best Performing Dolphin Schools and Clusters’ to motivate schools to document their work. CEE team presented the overall school activities in the clusters and shared following year’s plan of action. During the meet, it was also agreed to implement ‘Save Ganga – Save Dolphin’ campaign on the occasion of National Dolphin Day on October 5, 2016.

As a part of the Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Education Programme, over 750 schools have been identified from 20 locations along river Ganges. A group of 35-40 schools are made into one cluster in which a partner NGO facilitates activities with the help of CEE and the Forest and Education Department at the district level.

CEE North organised a teachers’ workshop at City Montessori School, Kanpur under Continuous Engagement Programme (CEP) of WIPRO’s Earthian initiative on June 18, 2016. The workshop introduced Module II—Earth and The Web of Life after the successful completion of Module I—About My World. The teachers were provided the background of the programme and the objectives of Module II. The Modules, curriculum linkages, and the ways of integrating the module concepts into extra-curricular activities were discussed. Teachers appreciated the educational material and training methods. 26 teachers of standards 6 to 8 participated.

‘Paryavaran Mitra’, CEE’s largest school programme, has joined hands with WIPRO for its ‘Earthian’ initiative. CEE is implementing it in 6 states. Winning schools under the initiative associate with CEE for CEP for a period of three years. Eight schools from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have won the ‘Earthian’ awards.

World Environment Day (WED) is celebrated every year on June 5 to raise global awareness of the need to take positive environmental action. 'Illegal trade in wildlife' was the theme of this year’s World Environment Day. The slogan 'Go Wild for Life.' is to encourage people to celebrate all those species under threat and take action of their own to help safeguard the species for future generations. Various offices of Centre for Environment Education (CEE) across the country marked World Environment Day 2016 with different events.

CEE Ahmedabad organised events on June 4 and 5 to mark the occasion, with support from S&P Global finance. A night camp was organised for students in the age group of 8-14 years, on the campus. Activities such as nocturnal wildlife watch, star gazing, theme painting, etc. took place. June 5 is an open day at CEE. The day began with a bird watching on the campus. A number of parallel activities – environmental games, adventure activities, competitions, movie screenings and a puppet show were organised to increase awareness about wildlife and illegal trade. Face painting, tattoo, origami, and pottery were some of the prime attractions. Various food stalls serving local cuisine were also put up. The programme culminated with felicitation of the winners of various competitions.

Sundarvan, CEE’s Nature Discovery Centre, organised a drawing competition for wildlife appreciation. Three themes were announced for children in the age group of 3 - 13 years, namely, ‘Who shares this Earth with us’, ‘Save our Wildlife’ and ‘Illegal Wildlife Trade and Conservation’. Three prizes were given away in each age-category and winners received art hampers and scholarships from Skyblue Art Activities and HET Graphics. More than 190 children participated in the drawing competition.

CEE North located in Lucknow organised two events on the occasion. The first one was organised in collaboration with Regional Science City for children. Various competitions such as rangoli, poster making, and quiz drew attention to some key endangered wildlife species. Around 300 people participated in this event. The second event was held at Mojasa and Poorva villages in Malihabad, Lucknow. Prakriti Bus–A mobile exhibition on Biodiversity of Uttar Pradesh visited villages to reach out to community and children. The event was organised in association with the Uttar Pradesh State Biodiversity Board, University of Lucknow, and the District Science Club.

CEE's project office in Bettiah, Bihar organised a workshop–cum–training on the ‘Role of Agro Forestry in Conservation of Environment, Biodiversity and Habitat of Ganges River Dolphin’, at Forest Resource Centre, Udaipur Wildlife Sanctuary, Bettiah. The workshop was inaugurated by the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Bettiah Forest Division. More than 40 farmers and fishermen were benefitted under the training provided on cultivation techniques of agro forestry on farm land in flood plains and on riverbeds.

CEE Karnataka was invited by the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) along with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to showcase its work and activities. Posters depicting the significance of the WED theme highlighting endangered species and their statistics; India’s biodiversity; CEE’s educational programmes and camping activities were showcased.

CEE’s project office in Bahraich, Bihar organised a community event in Baundi village as part of Ganges River Dolphin Conservation Education Programme. The event started with an awareness rally taken out by the children of the village. It was followed by a plantation activity and a community level meeting. CEE team presented the WED theme to community members and discussed ways to conserve Ganges river dolphin.

CEE’s project office in Vaishali, Bihar, celebrated WED at UMS Andharwara in Hajipur block school with students, the Students Management Committee (SMC), and teachers. A competition and a plantation activity were organised for children in the school campus. Mr. Sanjay Sinha (BRP, Hajipur) addressed community members and a ‘bal sansad’ was organised by the students.

CEE Himalaya celebrated WED in the states of Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Jammu & Kashmir of the Indian Himalayan Region. The events focused on environmental issues which were specific to these states.

CEE Goa along with the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) organised a quiz and a drawing competition at Sanskriti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji, on June 3.

CEE East office located in Bhubaneswar organised a clean-up drive on the occasion at Badagada Haat in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.