Mukti Conducts Workshop on Sustainability in Biodiversity for Secondary School Students

A day-long pilot workshop on sustainability within the context of a biodiversity project was held at Purbashridharpur on 29^th August with science teachers & few students from six Mukti Support Schools (MSS). The primary objective of this workshop was to train secondary MSS teachers in understanding the importance of biodiversity conservation and how to implement sustainable practices within projects related to the school syllabus with the help of students in the classroom. Prof Amalesh Mishra, the veteran scientist from PUPA (ParibeshUnnayan Parishad)working in this field since 1990, and Rinku Das, a government school teacher, conducted the workshop.

The workshop consisted of the following key components:

1. An introduction to biodiversity, its sustainability, and threats to it, followed by a participatory discussion.

2. A group discussion and brainstorming session on the dependence of humans on the local ecosystem. The participants took an oath to integrate the biodiversity sustainability concepts into their school projects and daily lives.

3. Groups comprising two teachers and two students from the same MSS were assigned activities pertaining to simple real-life projects, such as preparing rain gauges, performing water audits and harvesting, understanding species diversity and the role of birds in the fertilization of mangroves and figs.

Mukti thanks the octogenarian professor Mishra and Ms. Das for undertaking the long travel to deliver this workshop, and believes that it will contribute to the development of environmentally responsible citizens of the future.