THE SMALL EARTH NEPAL

22 November 2012

The Small Earth Nepal (SEN), in collaboration with Binayak Sikshya Sadan, the Solid Waste Management and Technical Support Centre, Ministry of Local Development, and WWF Nepal, organized one day meeting “INFO MEET 2012” of teachers from the Kathmandu Valley on 21 November 2012 at Seabird International College, Bhaktapur. This event was held as an orientation program for the preparation of the main event Best from Waste “Children Move for Climate Action”- Global Day of Action (GDA) 2012, which is being organized worldwide at the time of the annual United Nations Talks on Climate Change – COP18 simultaneously. This year, GDA is being organized at Bhaktapur Durbar Square on 1st December (Saturday).

Mr. Surendra B. Prajapati, Principal of Binayak Sikshya Sadan, welcomed all the participants. He emphasized that this program is the platform for the teachers to guide their students and enhance their creativeness. He requested all the teachers in the Info-Meet to support the main event for its grand success.

During the introduction session, all the participants shared about the activities carried out in their schools and the eco-clubs on environmental concerns.

Ms. Kabita Gautam, Program Assistant at SEN highlighted on the Global Day of Action and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)- Conference of Parties (COP).”We cannot do the big things but a small initiation can bring a bigger change. We have invited Climate Change, now we are the one to fight with it. And it’s high time to act now.” said Ms. Gautam. She encouraged the participants for 3R (Reuse-Recycle-Reduce) principle and showed many examples how to implement it in our daily lives sharing her experiences during her teaching time in schools.

Mr. Niranjan Bista, Program Officer at SEN reflected on the activities carried out during the Global Day of Action 2011. He also shared few photos from the past event – Best from the Waste, and some innovative ideas of making useful goods from waste.

Mr. Arun Prasad Bhattarai, Program Coordinator at SEN explained about Solid Waste and Climate Change. He also described about the different systems on the earth, the Green House effect, impacts and consequences of climate change, types of waste, composition of solid waste, and management of solid waste. He also presented some examples of how we can reduce the waste generation in small scale in our community by reusing and recycling the discarded items.

Mr. Shrijan Ram Shrestha from the Solid Waste Management Technical Support Center (SWMTSC) presented the practices of solid waste management in Nepal.

The documentary “Eka Deshma (Once Upon A Time)” reflected the history of the Bishnumati River, which has been severely affected and polluted by the human activities. The documentary appeals for the call of action which we are ignoring.

During the open discussions session, moderated by Mr. Sudarshan Rajbhandari, Vice President of SEN, many of the schools shared their ideas on how to make the program effective. A short video regarding the event of GDA 2011, which was organized in the Patan Durbar Square motivated the teachers towards their active participation on the GDA 2012.

With the sincere gratitude Mr. Tulsi Hari Prajapati from Binayak Sikshya Niketan closed the session and wished for the success of the GDA 2012 with an innovative ideas from the students participating in the event.