"OOO It's gettin' HAWT in here,
There's-too-much-CARBON in the atmosphere,
Take action, Take action,
And get some SATISFACTION."
That was the jingle that was stunk in our heads after the 3-day workshop IYCN conducted in the beginning of the month (from 4th -6th January).
The Indian Youth Climate Network has the same vision as the Inconvenient Youth (a US of A based international student network, spreading Al Gore's anthem- The Inconvenient Truth.)They are driven to empower the young generation (that's US) to stand up to fight global warming in our country.
The event conducted in Infosys, on the 5th, comprised of highly interactive sessions with fellow college students. First, a presentation was done by Caroline (active and supportive member of IYCN) and Kartikeya Singh (executive director). It had excerps from The Inconvenient truth and facts about the current scenario in India.
Most facts were alarming such as, India being the FOURTH largest carbon emitting country and China overtaking US at prime spot. But we were also awed at the fact that a small district in Rajasthan filled with solar panels, could potentially run current all over India, for FIFTY YEARS!
The documentary prompted a round of discussion among the audience. We discussed how India has the solutions to crack the climate change problem - well, we enacted them out in mime and had people guessing. (That was a total ice breaker!) we had no difficulty making fools of ourselves, but hey the audience loved it, and most importantly, we had ALOT of fun! :)
We broke for lunch and had gathered to listen to the Solar Punch. They're musicians who run all instruments with solar energy! Can you believe that?! Unfortunately, we couldn't grab that gig, for technical reasons.
The "what can YOU do to over come climate change" session was next on the menu. Like the previous sessions, groups of 5 to 6, ran through a 5 min Plan of action and presented it.
The day ended with a group singing the IYCN jingle and a picture of all of us chiming in to Caroline's cue "Who is the solution?"
- "WE ARE THE SOLUTION!"
The following day, we visited The Energy Resource Institute(TERI). The architectural design and concept of using purely renewable sources left us speechless; Utilising wind in maintaining pleasant temperature in the office and solar energy for lighting and electrifying purposes, is just a tip of the iceberg.
All in all, our workshop was WELL WORTH! we were inspired by people from different walks of life, concerned about the environment. oh i forgot to add that we met Mr. Syed, the only autodriver in Bangalore who owns a solar powered engine! "It runs for about 70 km a day and I can save about 400 rupees a day if I use it." he adds confidently, in English. :)
Get in touch:
IYCN network: http://iycn.in/
IYCN blog: http://www.whatswiththeclimate.org/
TERI: http://www.teriin.org/
