Government's Green Campus initiative, through grading, puts competition into their eco-friendly programmes.Many Bengaluru colleges sign up to standardise sustainable and eco-friendly practices
BENGALURU:Issues related to the environment and sustainability have gained world prominence especially with threats related to global warming and pollution becoming more visible everyday. Educational institutions all over the world are taking a leading role to spread this message.
In India, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the government body that governs and regulates technical education in the country, recently introduced the 'Green Campus' initiative aimed at integrating sustainable and eco-friendly practices within the functioning of an educational institution such as in the infrastructure, education practices or courses and management of an institute.
Many from the city and across the state have shown quite the enthusiasm for the initiative. As many as 57 colleges in the city have registered online within the first five months of the project starting.
A Bengaluru-based organisation called the International Institute of Waste Management (IIWM) signed an MoU with the AICTE to provide training, knowhow, carry out assessment and certification for institutions in fulfillment of the initiative on behalf of the government body. The AICTE had issued a circular to two signed an MoU in October, 2017 and the initiative started as early as January this year.
*Prominent colleges sign up*
There are about a total of 250 colleges from across the state who have registered for the initiative according to Bineesha P, executive director, IIWM. "The Green Campus initiative also adds a level of competition for green efforts among institutions by means of rating and grading what they have done," she adds. About 1,000 colleges have registered all over the country.
Of the 57 institutes who have signed up for the programme from the city, as many as 13 are going to enter first phase of the initiative - self-evaluation. After this will come the phase of physical auditing by the IIWM based on a number of criteria. (see box for details)
Prominent institutions in the city such as RV College of Engineering is one of 13 colleges in the city. A R Krishna Reddy, registrar of the college says his institution has been implementing a number of eco-friendly measures for many years now. He highlights measures such as making courses on environmental management mandatory for all students in the college, using LED bulbs instead of incandescent ones in the entire campus, a wet waste disposal system and generating solar power (of 500kw capacity) to name a few. "Some of our latest green measures have been to install as 20 incinerators for sanitary pads in the hostels as well as the administrative blocks. Recently we brought about an organised system of disposing off the nearly two tonnes of e-waste the college generates every year. We have entered into agreements with vendors who have the expertise to dispose them," adds Reddy.
About the Green Campus initiative, Reddy says, "For colleges who do not have the knowhow to implement such an initiative. They can connect and learn from others who have already been doing it."
At the Acharaya Institute of Technology, Soldevanahalli, the college has built its own artificial lake, is harvesting rainwater and teaching courses in sustainability according to its campus director, Divakar Goli. "This apart, our buildings have also been built in such a way that we mostly use only daylight. Go to our labs, classrooms and libraries and we will use electricity only after 5 or 6pm," says Divakar. The college is also one the 13 institutions in the city in the first stage of the Green Campus project.
Asked about how such an initiative would help Goli, says, "The project in a way gives a recognition for existing efforts. It also streamlines all these efforts into a grading system that can be shared with other institutes throughout the country."
How it works
After institutions register online and prepare a self-evaluation survey, a physical auditing will be done by IIWM. The institution will receive one of three levels of certification depending on fulfillment of certain criteria. Meeting a basic criteria - waste management, water conservation and others will give institutions a silver rating. Fulfilling the basic criteria and those of "green infrastructure and policy" will merit a gold rating. Lastly, if an institution has fulfilled the above two criteria as well as efforts "to develop and establish innovative technologies and systems, along with community development" it will get the highest platinum rating. The certification will be valid for three years.
Green Campus will be a must
Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman, AICTE :The green campus initiative may be made mandatory in a year or two. It is a slow process, and needs some time and the processes of hand-holding and workshops need to be followed. We have also instituted an award for the same to encourage more institutes. In the case of making accessibility for physically challenged students in technical colleges we initiated a number of such measures at first and so was the case of a number of other programmes we introduced. To make it immediately compulsory is however not possible.