ENABLING YOUNG LEADERS TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE
An ambitious program to build the capacities of Young Leaders of Himachal Pradesh over the various aspects of Climate Change and to enable them to act effectively against the factor that aggravate the climate crisis. This program witnesses the formation of the Himachal Pradesh chapter of Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN).
CLIMATE CHANGE has emerged as the most critical and threatening challenge before the world in the 21st century. Despite of several policy-related initiatives taken in order to tackle this challenge, the conceptual understanding and approach towards “acting locally” has not been realized yet so far. It is unanimously believed that aware and motivated Youth, well-equipped with “in-depth” knowledge over the aspects related to climate change, will be of immense potential for making the communities aware & sensitive towards the environment and for taking actions in defence of the earth. United Nations has underpinned the role of youth in tackling with the climate change challenge and has declared the theme of the INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY 2008 as “Youth and Climate Change: Time for Action”.
Considering the capacity building of youth over the Climate Change as the most basic step towards the promotion of sustainable actions for combating this problem, Pariwartan organized a 2-day long training program for the Youth Leaders from district Shimla from August 12 to 13, 2008 at the
The resource persons for the training were renowned subject matter specialists from Forest Department, Non Governmental Organizations and Environmental Advocacy Groups. 50 trainees belonging to 16-25 years age-group attended this training program with great enthusiasm and interest. These young leaders will now act as the Awareness Promoters and change makers over the various aspects related to Climate Change, its impacts and consequences at local level and will also take focused actions through a Youth Task Force. By joining this youth movement against climate change, these participants have naturally become a part of the INDIAN YOUTH CLIMATE NETWORK (IYCN), a coalition uniting Indian youth and Indian youth oriented organizations who are concerned about climate change. Contributing its efforts to this great movement, PARIWARTAN is coordinating the initiatives undertaken by IYCN at Himachal Pradesh level and enhancing the outreach of IYCN in the state.
Making this small endeavor transform into a grand drive against climate change, PARIWARTAN will soon organize a series of Training of Trainers (ToT) for the capable and self-motivated participants which will enhance their skills and capacity to take more focused and determined actions against the factors that contribute to the Climate Change at various levels including the self level, family level and community levels. PARIWARTAN encourages the Youth of Himachal Pradesh to come ahead and reveal their potential to become a Climate Leader, a leader who is concerned not only about his/her own future, but also about the future of the coming generations.
WOOD GASIFIER-BASED CREMATORIUM AT SHIMLA
A groundbreaking project on enhancing Energy Efficiency, financially assisted by DFID-UK through Himachal Pradesh Forest Sector Reforms Project (HPFSRP) with technical support from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI),
Despite of various environmental and social drawbacks of its usage, firewood still remains a cheap and commonly used fuel in
People of the village Chalaunthi in district Shimla had been facing the problem of poor air quality (especially at the time of cremations) for long. Sanatan Dharm Shamshan Ghat (Crematorium), Chalaunthi is situated close to Sanjauli, one of the highly populated areas of district Shimla. On an average, around 400 dead bodies are cremated every year in this crematorium in the traditional way which consumes approximately 2,00,000 Kg. of firewood. The villagers of Chalaunthi are bound to face severe physical as well as psychological health problems as the location of the crematorium is such that the smoke and unpleasant smell from the cremations goes straight into the houses of the village.
In the year 2007, ‘Pariwartan’ decided to deal effectively with this multifaceted issue through installing a Wood Gasifier-based Cremation System in Sanjauli area of Shimla with the financial assistance from Himachal Pradesh Forest Sector Reforms Project (funded by DFID) and technical assistance from The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi. The project was mainly focused upon reducing the fuel-wood consumption and making the cremation smokeless through the introduction of this Wood Gasifier-based Cremation System which is the first of its kind in the
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