Environmental Education in the Auroville Bio-Region
Nadukuppam High School
The Pitchandikulam Forest team is involved in environmental education across more than 100 schools in the Bio-Region. The main effort is to make the local communities aware of their region and its importance, especially the Kazhuveli water tank. Our main centre is in Nadukuppam village, where the local high school has been transformed from a low-performing school into a high-achieving model school with excellent academic standards, showing what can be achieved at this level. Children are involved actively in seeds and raising plants in the school nursery, organic agriculture, composting, conducting plays and projects on environmental issues.
Other schools across the region
We also conduct programmes in other government and private schools on themes like planting, herbal medicine, water conservation, recycling, waste, air pollution, organic vegetables, and celebrating special days like World Environment Day and Water Day.
Children on these programmes regularly visit the regenerated forests in Nadukuppam and Pitchandikulam to learn about the forest and biodiversity of both fauna and flora. This education programme is supported by four teachers, who have also formed eco-clubs in the schools for these activities.
These educational classes and tours are also open to other students and participants. There are regular visits to our forests and education centres by women from self help groups across Tamil Nadu and from government officers to learn about the bio-region, forest and animals.
Rural Women’s Theatre Workshop
GEN Auroville and Pitchandikulam hosted a two day workshop on the 1st-2nd July 2016 for a group of fifteen mostly married women from neighbouring villages around Nadukuppam, Tamil Nadu.
One half of the group worked at Amirtha and the other at Meera, both social enterprises that have emerged from Pitchandikulam Forest’s work at Nadukuppam, a village in Auroville’s bioregion.
]The intention was to explore through Theatre of the Oppressed games and activities what it means to live as a woman in the rural Indian context, trying to unravel the narratives, the thought patterns and societal constructions of gender culminating in a forum play for the larger community.
It was faciliated by Ms. Afshan Mariam, a psychologist working in education using tools of drama, farming and mindfulness.
To see more about the workshop and its outcomes, please see here. Soul of Women workshop.pdf
