We just got back from a wonderful rainy weekend at the beautiful Visthar campus situated on the outskirts of Bangalore city. Seventeen new climate leaders joined 350.org ‘s India team to give us a good solid push for climate change awareness and action in and around the city of Bangalore. Shalini and Lochan who just attended 350’s Training for Trainers in May 2012 in Rishikesh, took the lead at the workshop by facilitating some of the sessions. The energy and enthusiasm they brought to the group through various experiential learning tools were what made the workshop a super success.
At the very beginning, we all sat down as a group and set a fews goals for the workshop. And even though we only had the weekend, we really pushed ourselves to make sure that we covered all of them. Some of the main goals were to understand the science behind climate change, the vital importance of building a local movement and the need for leadership to realize the vision of 350 to build a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis. But one goal which we never ever forget at any 350 event is to have fun while we’re at it. This group in particular shared so many laughs that we were often left clutching our stomachs.
We were definitely successful in our mission of coming together as a group of concerned citizens by laying the foundation with strong plans and exciting ideas for India’s first national day of action against coal that is planned for later in the year. Keep an eye out for more updates coming very soon.
Shalini Menon, a trainer with the Explorer’s School and one our workshop facilitators had this to say about the workshop, “Tools in Experiential Education not just make the workshop more fun & interactive but allows people to connect & explore themselves. Keeping in mind, 350’s workshop goals, one of them being leadership & building a community of leaders, the challenge was to help the group make connections & bond, all in a two day residential program”.
The group plans to meet atleast once a month where they will share stories, ideas and plan local community actions and projects to help Bangalore take the lead in climate activism in India. So, if you are in Bangalore, keep checking the 350 India Facebook page for updates on the groups meetups and plans and do try and join them but don’t forget to encourage your friends and family to come along as well.
Image courtesy Chethan Karanth.