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Building Sustainability into Education

September 2019. The UN Climate Action Summit. In what is now a widely circulated speech, an emotional yet determined 16-year old-stood in front of world leaders and condemned them for not doing enough for our planet with her impactful accusation – ‘How dare you?’. Greta Thunberg ruffled a few feathers that day, drawing both compliments and criticism.

Activism on climate change had been rocking the boat at every major diplomatic meet for a while, but coming from a teenager, who is expected to be still evolving, and discovering herself, Greta Thunberg’s speech not only shook and motivated the grown-ups but also awakened a whole generation of youths. In the following days, millions of inspired young people across the globe came out in protest, going on strike against the inaction of the political leaders. It was the same generation accused of being self-absorbed and engrossed in Instagram and Tik Tok. Greta Thunberg gave them the much-needed nudge to make them realize that it was their fight to claim back what rightly belongs to them – their future.

The world is suffering the effects of rapid climate change. Ferocious storms, flooding, record-breaking temperatures, and devastating wildfires are regular natural calamities that have become staple news. Every climate model predicts the situation is only going to get worse from here, and very fast.

Humans have got themselves into this situation through decades of abuse and disregard towards nature, and are now paying the price for their apathy. While we need to pull back fast on our degenerative habits and behavior, we also need to make sure that our future generations do not make the same mistakes that we did. Our Gen Z are the biggest stakeholders in this fight for climate change, both as contributors as well as consumers. As their predecessor, it is our responsibility to make sure we pass our hard-learned lessons to them and build an army of climate activists who are not only eco-conscious but at the same time can persuade others to acknowledge the grim reality.

Roadside situations such as this right beside educational institutions should trigger concern and not apathy among the children, and a willingness to find a solution. That’s the purpose of education in sustainability

Building Sustainability into Education

Children have more power than adults choose to accept. They are keen observers. Like a sponge, they soak up what happens around them while at the same time, their unbiased conviction gives them the capability to change habits at home, the building block of society and the nation. And, they are the future of our planet. Hence it is a no-brainer that educating children about our environment and ecological balance is the most formidable weapon in our arsenal in the fight against climate change.

Bringing sustainability to a classroom involves building awareness through information, and at the same time, bringing practical experience. Lessons about sustainability need not be a subject. It should rather be a way of life, a part of learning. It completely changes the way curriculums are designed and executed. While we do have the NCERT curriculum in India that tries to bring this aspect into the classrooms, most educational institutions still struggle to move away from the traditional form of content-based teaching. The new National Education Policy 2020 tries to change some of that by pushing for project-based learning, but in all practicality, it will still be a long-drawn process.

Working together toward finding solutions to real-world problems is the goal of sustainable education

Implementation of Sustainability in classrooms

The first step towards implementing sustainable education in the classroom is to build an ecosystem that is conducive to learning.

Children learn in multiple ways. The 4 basic modes are (a) visual – by seeing and observing, (b) aural – by listening, (c) by reading and writing (d) kinesthetic – by touching and doing. It is how effectively we bring these aspects into our classrooms that determines how successful we are as educators.

The first step towards building environmental awareness is to create a sensory environment for the children to immerse themselves in and learn from. It starts by designing a classroom that brings out elements of sustainability through physical elements and culture. By using eco-friendly materials in classroom setups and décor, children learn the concept of green materials and bio-degradability. Encouraging the concept of reduce-reuse-recycle builds consciousness on wastage. They learn about carbon footprint through simple habits of switching off lights and fans when leaving a room, taking green modes of transport to school, stopping food wastage in their lunch boxes, and avoiding single-use plastic.

Building good habits is supplemented by building knowledge. A classroom library with books on diverse topics with a fair share of environmental stories is the children’s window to the outside world, as is watching relevant movies. But to start a discussion and raise questions, it is equally important to make these sessions interactive, one that encourages questions and builds free thinkers.

Most children learn best when they are actively involved in projects, by touching and doing, learning kinesthetically, and experiencing challenges and roadblocks. Simple activities like creating a window sill garden, rainwater harvesting, and composting can boost learning and bring a mindset shift.

Primary students designing a simple solution for rainwater harvesting by applying the principles of natural water flow

To pursue the goal of building consciousness about sustainability, school leaders and educators must ensure that it is not treated as a separate subject, but one that becomes a part of the curriculum. Environmental education could be implemented as applications of mathematics and science that the children have learned, to solve an ecological problem their community is facing in real life. They then proceed to document and present the outcome of their project using different modes of creativity and leveraging their language skills. It all has to tie up for a wholesome outcome.

Learning about sustainability is just like learning any other subject. Bloom’s taxonomy is a globally used tool by teachers as the common language of pedagogy for stagewise learning and assessment. It follows the gradual increase in learning rigor – Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. Building expertise on sustainability can follow the same path where students start from building awareness, gathering information, evaluating options, and eventually creating solutions to problems that they witness in their daily lives. This should be the pathway for education in general, but is far more potent when it comes to practical fields of study, like our environment.

AI-based technology builds a strong eco-system and a model that is sustainable and scalable

Technology at work

In today’s world of developing awareness, there are diverse groups of organizations, both for-profit as well as non-profit who are currently working in different areas of climate change and climate education. There are also various educational institutions inclined to bring sustainability into their classrooms. But, most of the time they are working in silos. What we need right now, is to build an eco-system of support, connecting all stakeholders with a common vision and thus creating an avalanche of change.

However, the overwhelming factor in this attempt is the colossal size of the envisioned program and the diversity of the implementation landscape that comes with it. Due to this, a program on sustainability that has run successfully is rarely scaled up. We do find evidence of triumphant stories in various pockets of the country, but they fail to gather momentum as a movement.

AI-driven risk management organizations like Amplo Global Inc. have the technology and expertise to bridge this gap. They work on real-time data to design an approach that is relevant to the purpose. They help build prototypes that are scalable and customizable. It leads to a program design that has a strong vision with effective utilization of available resources, is culturally sensitive, and hence holds a strong probability of successful implementation.

It is time to join hands against the biggest threat our modern world has faced, time to empower our strongest and only chance of survival – our children, and utilize the most powerful tool of the 21st century – technology. Only then will we succeed as a nation, and as a human race.

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Equations

Equations is an organization based out of Bangalore which works on promoting equitable tourism and protection of the community and the environment. It envisions a just and equitable world, where all people have the freedom and the right to determine their lives and future. Equations is keen on developing an app/ AI-based solution to create a database of the assets of the families living in disaster-prone areas in the states the organization. The database will be prepared to supplement and guide the government data for compensation estimate of those families, post-disaster, to prevent subsequent spiraling poverty.


Since Amplo Global has its proficiency in providing AI-based solutions, it will be a perfect platform to reduce strategy development time and decision-making errors and increase capacity, enable sustainable operations. Amplo Global’s platform will be helping Equations to create a survey tool in the source area to understand the impact of climate change & migration on tourism. It will be a guided synthesis tool for tracking and maintaining these records.

Empowering the underprivileged of Sundarbans

PROVIDING THE SCOPE FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, EMPOWERMENT OF LOCAL TEACHERS AND GIVING POST-SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT TO THE CHILDREN OF HINGALGANJ IN NORTH 24 PARGANAS

Amplo Global CSR Team, with the initiative, support and partnership of Dishari Welfare Society, came out in the open to help the villagers in North 24 parganas of West Bengal, with special focus on their education and employment opportunities in order to bring about a complete community development. Amplo Global has promised to give full support to Dishari foundation by conducting an in depth visioning exercise, conceptualizing a road map, developing proposals, designing implementation strategies and training the Dishari team for effective implementation of the plan. Dishari with the help of Amplo Global CSR Team are trying their level best to impart post school tuition support to the children, create a base and scope for experiential learning so that the students get ample opportunity for employment in future. Not only children but the CSR Team is also making endeavors for the education and empowerment of the teachers so that they become aware of the practical ways and methods of teaching these village kids. Efforts have been made to build a trust factor between the teachers and the parents so that both can influence the kids to become educated through experiential learning so that they can lead a sustainable life in near future.

Our Story

Journey so far

Our Story

Amplo Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) wing started its journey with the purpose of helping communities for transformation through a holistic approach. The focus is to create an eco-system leading to a self-sustainable value chain. Amplo Global’s social entrepreneurial mindshare along with various social impact start-ups are making a mark towards a better planet to live in.

Our first initiative has been shaking hands with Ahana, the first ray of the sun, a non-profit organization of Kolkata, West Bengal. We have been associating with Ahana from its inception, mentoring and guiding it, assisting to collaborate with various government and non-governmental organizations to conduct different programs related to empowerment and revival of traditional forms of art which are losing their relevance in this fast-growing world.

Amplo Global CSR & Ahana together took an initiative in Surulia village of Purulia district in West Bengal, to rejuvenate the traditional form of the art of making artefacts from molten zinc or brass or copper. We organized workshops where women artisans of Malohar community were given training for learning this art. Moreover, we also took necessary actions for official documentation of these till date unidentified group, so that they get the minimum government benefits allotted for them.

Knowledge development and enablement towards sustainability has been a key goal for AG CSR. To achieve this, AG CSR has planned to take up various projects. One such is conducting a workshop on ‘Gender equality gender justice: the rightful way towards sustainable social development’ with the students of Berhampore Girls’ College at Murshidabad. A one-day workshop has been organized with almost 300 students where a holistic vision on gender, sex and sexuality has been imparted to them. Along with that, they were given knowledge on relevant legal as well as social rights prevalent for them and also against cyber bullying and stalking. They were made aware of the rights available for them which will help them to develop social sustainability to deal in future.

Another knowledge building program has been taken up by AG CSR team in collaboration with a Kolkata-based non-government organization, Kolkata Sanved, working in the field with the survivors for almost twenty years, using Dance Movement therapy for psycho-social rehabilitation and social transformation. Kolkata Sanved wants to prepare a digital archive, consisting of the huge data of their functioning for last two decades, that will be a source of information and knowledge for any individual/organization who wants to work in this field in future. Amplo Global CSR team is supporting KS to curate and host digital archive representing Kolkata Sanved’s works and achievements since its inception.

Empowerment of women and children from the marginalized community and enabling them towards sustainability has always been the major goal of Amplo Global CSR wing. In order to achieve this, AG CSR team has been meandering its path through different projects. The collaboration with organizations like Dishari and Samabedan has been done with this target in mind. Though at the initial stage, AG CSR team is working with these two organizations to strengthen its structure with technical support. This includes helping them to finalize vision-mission statements for strategic management, developing proposals for mobilizing resources and guide them with proper implementation plan.

Along with empowerment of women, AG CSR also works towards the revival and preservation of traditional form of art. A very comprehensive program has been taken up by AG CSR team in association with Ahana and INTACH and with full-fledged support and cooperation of HSWS in the Kalimpong district of West Bengal. Workshops have been arranged in which women of the hills, having knowledge and skill of weaving in traditional handlooms. They were given training on new techniques and methods by professional designer cum trainer, whereby they were taught how to improve their skill and make more variety of products which have huge demand in the market. The aim is to showcase the right path in front of these women which will help them to reach the goal of sustainable livelihood in future.

Samabedan

Samabedan Trust Founded in 2019 and registered in 2020 under Society Registration Act with the mission to fight against social inequities. The organization aims at improving the living standards of people living in slums and marginalized areas of Kolkata through entrepreneurship programs, vocational training, technical skills training and financial management support. They have started its journey through initiating an income generation program for the women and youth of few areas in Kolkata, West Bengal. The overall objective of this project is to create an enabling environment for the people living in the communities of Kolkata so that they can be self – dependent and self – reliant, thus making them self-employed in the long-run through inculcating entrepreneurial skill.


AGI has initiated partnership with Samabedan Trust to establish a mutually beneficial collaboration. AG’s role in this arrangement is to strengthen its organizational growth path with technical support and thus ensure holistic development of the marginalized community. This includes help them to work on vision-mission statement for strategic management and guide them with proper resource mobilization and implementation plan.

Institutions

PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY AND GENDER JUSTICE AT BERHAMPORE GIRLS’ COLLEGE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AGI has joined hands with Berhampore Girls’ College to establish a mutually beneficial community collaboration. AG’s role in this arrangement is to train and build capacity of students of the college in the field of gender rights, awareness and legal information related to gender issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amplo Global CSR Team has taken a step forward to make 300 attendees in the workshop aware of the concepts of gender, sex and sexuality at Berhampore Girls’ College. An open conversation was made on local issues in the society by the CSR Team of Amplo Global INC. The students in BGC were given a relevant topic to debate. They were also encouraged to write a screenplay on the present-day problems of our society. The CSR Team has taken an initiative to tutor the students about cyber-bullying and stalking. In this way the Amplo Global CSR Team has chosen a rightful path towards sustainable social development so that our future generations can lead a safe and blissful life.

Kolkata Sanved

Kolkata Sanved, an organization that uses Dance Movement therapy for psycho-social rehabilitation and social transformation. Founded in 2004, Kolkata Sanved, a women-led organization works towards psycho-social rehabilitation of survivors of marginalization and gender-based violence, prevention of violence and poor mental health and promotion of mental wellbeing through the medium of DMT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amplo Global CSR team has already started their program with Kolkata Sanved of creating the digital archive for the latter. AG CSR team is helping the organization in envisioning the milestones of its journey in terms of creating a representative digital documentation, creating system of data collection, collation of the data through meta-data sheet, designing and curating user-friendly digital archive and to train the Kolkata Sanved team in maintaining and updating the archive for future.

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Empowering the women of slums of Kolkata

STRIVING TO PROVIDE A BETTER LIVING FOR SLUM DWELLERS IN KOLKATA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The CSR Team of Amplo Global joined hands with Samabedan Trust of Kolkata to improve the living standards of slum dwellers in Kolkata through technical skill training, vocational training and financial management support. Amplo Global has promised to take care of these people by conducting an in-depth visioning exercise, executing a resource mobilization plan, conceptualizing a road map and designing an implementation strategy. All these efforts have been made in order to enable an environment of people living in the slum area to have a self-dependent, self-reliant and self-employed life to ensure sustainability in years to come.

Revival of traditional art

In a growing technology-run and industrialized world, people are increasingly forgetting the traditional crafts and moving towards new innovation. Due to this, artisans are moving to alternative income generation methods, for instance — daily wage labour and farming; and art is losing its grip. Preserving and protecting the skills and knowledge of traditional crafts is a growing challenge.

Amplo Global CSR team has taken this vow to take necessary initiatives to protect this cause of revival and conservation of traditional form of art and also the artisans, who are compelled to look for alternative livelihood options due to lack of the knowledge of marketability and demand of the products they create.

Kalimpong

TRAINING THE WOMEN OF HILLY REGION TO BECOME FINANCIALLY INDEPENDENT

Earning a livelihood has always been difficult in the hilly regions. Women in the rural areas of the hilly regions in Kalimpong do not get proper opportunities and as a result find it hard to become financially independent. Amplo Global CSR in collaboration with Ahana Foundations and INTACH and with the initiative and support of Hill Social Welfare Society (HSWS) have taken up the program for intervention with marginalized and vulnerable women from the hill tribes of Darjeeling district in the northern part of West Bengal, with the purpose: –

 

 

 

  • To empower and collectivize the women living in the Lopchu and Peshok tea gardens of Rangli-Rangliot district of Darjeeling through SHGs
  • To train these women into weaving dresses, shawls, stoles using the dying local traditional weaving techniques using traditional motifs.
  • To help them with design inputs so that the products can find a larger market outside the local niche market.
  • To connect the local community of artisans to the online marketing platforms and various state emporiums like Biswa Bangla or artisan’s forum like Dastkaar etc.
  • To establish self- sustaining alternative livelihoods for poor women so that they are capable of coming out of rural poverty as well as the familial control and live a life with dignity.

 

 

 

They have already conducted workshops in two phases where professional trainer has been appointed to give training inputs and guidance to these women artisans to nurture and enhance their already existing weaving skill and develop expertise so that they can manufacture better quality products which have got high market demand.

At present, the AG CSR team is trying to organize for more such workshops so that increased number of women can be benefitted from the program.

 

 

 

         

Purulia

COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE IDENTITY TO THE WOMEN ARTISANS OF MALOHAR COMMUNITY IN PURULIA, WEST BENGAL

Malohar or Malakar is a caste-community that can be found in several blocks in Purulia, who are very less in number and scattered all across the district. Malohars has the long-cherished tradition of making artefacts for daily use as well as artistic production out of molten zinc or brass or copper. The artefacts they produce include ‘Sher-pai” (a measuring cup), Diyas or lamps, bells for the domestic animals etc. However, the practice currently is on wane as there is no demand except occasionally. The women, though know the art of making them, don’t practice as they are not aware of what to do with this skill.

 

The Malohars are extremely poor with little or no citizenship documents although they are residing in the villages where we found them (in Bonbohal in Purulia 1 block or Raghunathpur in Manbazar 2) since quite a long time. That is why they do not receive any benefits from government programs. 

 

Amplo CSR Team and Ahana have joined hands together to help in the empowerment of women artisans of Malohar community in Surulia village of Purulia district, West Bengal, who are struggling to get a dignified livelihood. In order to preserve the heritage of these lost artforms, our CSR team and Ahana are working diligently towards mentoring these families through the following actions:

 

  • Resource identification and analysis to conduct training workshops for the artisans.
  • Creating opportunities for group empowerment and personal leadership.
  • Providing financial literacy education for women with special emphasis on developing bank linkages.
  • Providing skill training that reflects job market realities. Link with the private sector for placement assistance. Partner with product development and marketing agencies to ensure sustainability of livelihood programs.
  • Encouraging women to work cooperatively in the development of sustainable micro enterprises that will be viable in the current market.

Initiatives have also been taken on their behalf to get their official identification done which will enable them access their documents and government benefits that come with it. It will also ensure their children to get educational and nutritional aids in schools.

Ahana

Ahana is an Indian, voluntary, not for profit organization. Ahana, literally meaning the first ray of the Sun, is dedicated towards uplift, welfare and empowerment of women and girls living in harmful and precarious situations. Women who have been subjected to either torture or discrimination can’t utilize the proper resources they have, for their own growth. Ahana is dedicated towards enabling those women and girls by creating a conducive ecosystem where they can realize their potential to the fullest. Ahana envisions a world free of discrimination and violence against women and girls where every woman and girl will get equal opportunity to thrive in society as an equal human being.


Amplo Global CSR team has initiated partnership with Ahana to establish a mutually beneficial community collaboration. AG’s role in this arrangement is to mentor, train and build capacity of Ahana in successful execution of welfare projects. Further, AG will also provide technical, financial and human resources towards development of Ahana’s programs.

 

AG CSR team has been associated with Ahana since its inception, helping it to grow at every step, guiding and mentoring it in planning, implementation and execution. AG CSR team has already started their journey with Ahana by helping in multiple projects, starting from revival of traditional form of art in Purulia and Kalimpong, to empowerment of women in Kalimpong, and so on.

INTACH

Headquartered in New Delhi, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) was founded in 1984 with the vision to lead heritage awareness and conservation in India. Over last 31 years, INTACH is performing its task of preservation of traditional art and culture of India across the country through over 170 chapters. One of the important missions of INTACH is to provide expertise in the field of conservation, restoration and preservation of specific works of art, and encourage capacity-building by developing skills through training programs, initiate collaborations and generate sponsorships for conservation and educational projects.


Amplo Global CSR team got associated with INTACH as the missions of both are aligned with each other. AG CSR aims not only to preserve the traditional form of different arts, but also thrives to revive and develop it to make it sustainable in the long run. AG CSR has already collaborated with INTACH to conduct few projects to meet this target.

Kolkata Sanved

Founded in 2004, Kolkata Sanved, a women-led organization works towards psycho-social rehabilitation of survivors of marginalization and gender-based violence, prevention of violence and poor mental health and promotion of mental wellbeing through the medium of Dance Movement Therapy. The organization works across South Asia in partnership with community-based organizations, civil society networks, rights groups and government institutions. Kolkata Sanved conducts DMT sessions in shelter homes, hospitals, govt. institutions, schools, etc. The organization has implemented their program in collaboration with local organizations in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Jordan and Thailand.


AGI has initiated partnership with Kolkata Sanved to establish a mutually beneficial community collaboration. AG’s role in this arrangement is to curate and host digital archive representing Kolkata Sanved’s works and achievements since its inception

Dishari

Dishari Welfare Society Founded in 2020 and registered in 2020-21 under Society Registration Act, works for and with the villagers with special focus on Education, Health and Income Generation by addressing school drop-out rates, increasing access to health facilities and creating employment opportunities, thus laying a ground for overall community development. The organization has implemented their program in collaboration with several local organizations in different districts of North 24 Parganas.


AGI has initiated partnership with Dishari Welfare Society to establish a mutually beneficial collaboration. AG’s role in this arrangement is to strengthen its structure with technical support. This includes helping them to finalize vision-mission statements for strategic management, developing proposals for mobilizing resources and guide them with proper implementation plan.