CSE offers summer environment course

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a reputed research and advocacy organization of India has designed a month-long environment course for the interested professional, students, research scholar and even a conscious citizen.

Titled as ‘Agenda for Survival: Learning the policies, politics and practices of environmental management in India’, the certificate course will begin on June 1 next, informed Sharmila Sinha on behalf of the New Delhi based organization, which was formed by the eminent environmental journalist Anil Agarwal decades back.

“The course design is innovative and goes beyond class-based lectures. Participants will get to interact with eminent environmentalists, activists and policy makers, watch films and documentaries, prepare detailed case studies and participate in weekly tutorials,” added Sharmila, who serves CSE as the assistant coordinator of Education & Training.

This course includes overviews on the current state of resource management in the country, ecological rights and livelihoods, debates on forests and wildlife management, together with understanding rural poverty and livelihoods. The participants will get an opportunity to understand the environmental costs of rapid development, the need for sustainable strategies to manage industrial and urban growth, challenges of managing water, sewage and solid waste. They will also get enlightened with the global politics behind global environmental problems like the climate change.

Another highlight of the course will be the opportunity for participants to improve their research, writing, editing and design skills. As part of their group assignment, participants will produce a journalistic product -- magazine or a web-based documentary that include real-life reporting, analysis and opinion pieces.

During the program, the participants will also visit Garhwal on a week-long field trip, where they will see for themselves how communities are taking charge of their own development by restoring their common lands, regenerating their forests, and strengthening their food and water security. More over, they will also be taken for a boat ride on the river Yamuna and visit a landfill.