IES Global - Delhi, India - Globe partner for India, active in Environmental Education, Biodiversity Conservation, Information Dissemination, Solid Waste Management, Eco-Technology & Heritage Conservation.

Heritage Trail Improvement - Involvement of School Community in the Environmental Improvement
Activities at Agra

Taj Mahal in the city of Agra is India’s window to the world. The city’s huge tourism potential, derived from Taj and other heritage monuments, is however challenged by the poor quality of the city infrastructure and services. In particular, a serious sanitation and waste management crises in staring the city and threatening its economic potential.

USAID India has identified Agra as a focus area for developmental intervention. It ahs launched a Cross-cutting Agra Program (CAP), a partnership among four USAID department, to promote participatory local planning for addressing key city concerns.

The overall objective of the programme is to improve solid waste management through a process of multi-stakeholders participation and municipal reforms.

CAP is an attempt to strengthen the livelihood and the living environments of selected low income communities in Agra. Focusing on Agra’s existing architectural wealth, the program has been designed around a heritage trail of four lesser known monuments and five interspersed low income communities.

It aims to generate youth-oriented, livelihood option linked with the city’s tourism-based economy and to improve the low-income areas through participatory processes, community partnership, civil society and private sector engagement ad involvement of key govt. actors and stakeholders, in a span of one and a half years.

The Indian Environmental Society (IES) is executing the environmental awareness program with the school and local people of the above-said low-income communities. The program entitled “Involvement of School Community in the Environmental Improvement Activities” is being executed as a sub-component of the USAID assisted Cross Cutting Program (implemented by Centre for Rural and Urban Excellence - CURE) in the Heritage Trail Area.

Schools and local communities from the Heritage Trail Area are the main target groups of the program. The students, teachers, and local people are involved in order to attain the above-discussed objectives. 5 schools (say adopted schools) from 5 communities are selected for the implementation of planned project activities.

The Indian Environmental Society is implementing one of the most prestigious International Environmental Education and Science based program “The GLOBE Program 2” with the schools of Agra. This program is being implemented in and around the two world famous heritage sites namely Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. Around 20 schools of Agra are the part of this program.

All the GLOBE schools are in urban areas and no school is from the trans-yamuna sites (or from the Heritage Trail Area). The GLOBE Schools are well equipped and has got good infrastructure. The students of the GLOBE schools are involved in various environmental oriented programmes and each school has got its own eco-club.

The GLOBE Program: Background

GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment) is one of the most interesting hands-on international environmental education programs. It links students, teachers, and the scientific research community in an effort to learn more about the environment through student data collection and observation. The GLOBE Program consists of following scientific protocols and environmental learning activity:

Atmosphere protocol
Hydrology protocol
Soil protocol
Land cover protocol

The GLOBE program involves some of the experiments, which are to be carried out under the above said protocols. For example: the student involved in the GLOBE Program will be carrying out simple but innovative experiments like cloud cover, cloud type, temperature (maximum, minimum and current), precipitation, soil profile (its structure, texture, pH, carbonate content, colour, etc.), soil temperature and its moisture, tree canopy, height and its circumference, interpretation of landsat images with the help of Multispec software. GLOBE students transmit their data to a central data processing facility via the Internet, acquire information from a variety of sources, and collaborate with scientists and other GLOBE students and communities worldwide in using these data for education and research.

The GLOBE Program – City Programme at Agra

The Indian Environmental Society is implementing a programme entitled “GLOBE Initiative – Its Uses in Environmental Education and Heritage Conservation” at Agra from the year 2004. The main aim of the programmes is to promote hands-on approach – emphasizing measurement, analysis, interpretation of results – as a basis for youth appreciation of heritage values and learning of issues and problems related to their sustainability. The Society has selected 20 schools from Agra, located in and around the heritage sites. The Society has organized one Introductory Workshop at Agra on August 27, 2004. During the Workshop, the Society introduced the above-said program to the selected school principals and teachers. The Society has also conducted GLOBE Teachers Training Workshop during October 5 – 8, 2004. The Teachers were provided with hands-on experience on all the four GLOBE protocols. The teachers are encouraged to implement the program in their respective schools, taking along their students, by collecting and analysing the environmental data in and around these sites using the GLOBE protocols and instruments. Through this project, the Society has been sensitising the local and school community (teachers and students) on the issues of Heritage Conservation and at the same time study about its local environment. It is expected that the project will help in maintaining the quality of life and in restoring its lost glory.

The Society has selected 5 GLOBE schools (out of 20 GLOBE schools) for implementing the Cross Cutting Agra Program. Efforts will be taken to link GLOBE schools with the community schools. Here comes the concept of twining. The twinning concept will definitely benefit the students from both community schools and GLOBE Schools. The students from both areas will share their experiences and work together to participate actively in the Environmental Improvement Activities.

Target Groups

Altogether 10 schools – 5 from GLOBE schools and 5 from adopted schools – are involved in the program. These schools are the CAP Schools.

Following are the identified CAP schools:

CAP Schools
Adopted Schools	GLOBE Schools
1. Shyam Lal Sararwati Vidya Mandir, Yamuna Bridge 2. Ram Lakhan Sr. Sc. School, Hanuman Nagar/Marwari Basti School 3. Shri Bharti Jr. High School, Katra Wazir Khan 4. Ramanand Modern School, Kuchhpura Basti 5. Blue Flower Public High School, Nagla Devjeet	6. Queen Victoria Girls Inter College, Hari Parbat 7. St. Anthony’s Jr. College, Agra Cantt. 8. St. Andrew’s Sr. Sec. School, Kamla Nagar 9. Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 2, Agra Cantt. 10. Dr. B. M. Roy Higher Sec. School, Fatehabad Road

All the planned activities will be implemented in conjunction with the CAP Schools. Some of the activities will be conducted in GLOBE Schools and others will be conducted in the community schools. The students of CAP schools will work hands-in-hands to make the program a big success.

The programme will ultimately build consciousness and an attitude to save the environment from further deterioration and hence laying a foundation of a responsible society.

Through the program ”Involvement of School Community in the Environmental Improvement Activities”, the IES will make every possible effort to meet with the overarching objectives of the Cross Cutting Agra Program. Through participatory process, Sanitation and Solid Waste Management practices will be adopted by involving the school and local communities around a Heritage Trail of lesser-known monuments at Agra.