ACCU Asia-Pacific ESD Photo Message Exhibitionin India

September - December 2009

A Report

Special thanks to Mr. Kartikeya .V . Sarabhai, Director, CEE for his inspiration, guidance and support to the programme.

SecretariatMadhavi Joshi, Mamata Pandya, Vandana Soni, Rajeshwari Namagiri, Pankaj Gorana, Pramod Kumar Sharma, Sumegha, J.K.Nair

Ahmedabad TeamMadhavi Joshi, Mamata Pandya, Vandana Soni, Rajeshwari Namagiri, Pankaj Gorana, Pramod Kumar Sharma, Gopal Kumar Jain, Aparna Susarla, K.V. Suryanarayan, D.S. Surati, Suresh Babu, Praful Bilgi, J.K.Nair, Sumegha, Priya Nair, Jogendra Rajora, Priya Pillai, Kanal Dave, Krishna Chandran, Rajesh Rathod, Naran Solanki , Manilal Sudra, Dilip Bhadusiya, Kanubhai S. Thakore, Abhilash Sarasia, Kanubhai R. Thakore, Babubhai Kori, Avni Varia, Vishwa Panchal, Harsh Sharma, Pranjal Pandey, Kairavi Dave, Nilesh Anand

Jaipur TeamPramod Kumar Sharma, Prajeet Shekhawat , Madhavi Joshi, Mamata Pandya, Vandana Soni, Pankaj Gorana, Sumegha, Naran Solanki, Sunil Yadav, Jay Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Neeraj Agrawal, Bipasha Mandal

Pune TeamSanskriti Menon , Amarnath Karan , Avinash Madhale , Laxmikant Deshpande , Dharmaraj Patil , Kapil Sahasrabuddhe , Kishor Chaudhari, Satish Awate, Madhavi Joshi, Prajeet Shekhawat , Savita Bharti ,Vibha Wadgaokar ,Vinayak Patil

From INTACHSharvey Dhongde, Supriya Goturkar

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ACCU ESD Photo Message Exhibition andWorkshops in India

IntroductionCulture is the underlying dimension of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)and is intrinsically linked to environment, economy and society - the three pillars of sustainable development. The United Nations has designated 2005 - 2014 as the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD)and UNESCO as the lead agency. The basic vision of DESD is a world where everyone has the opportunity to benefit from education and learn the values, behavior and lifestyles required for positive societal transformation and a sustainable future.

Living culture manifests itself through oral traditions and expressions, performing art, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe and traditional craftsmanship. It is closely linked to several dimensions of sustainability such as livelihood, intergenerational learning, equity and gender issues and impact on the environment. The developmental choices made affect the living culture in many ways. It is therefore important to both understand and recognize the importance of heritage in shaping our present and future.

We have had the tradition of living with our earth as a family, forming a relation ship with all its elements.

- Ravindra Sharma

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A panel from the exhibition

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About the ACCU Asia-Pacific ESD Photo Message ExhibitionAs part of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) ACCU organized a photo contest in 2007. Entrants in this contest were asked to select and capture through photographs, a part of their valuable culture which according to them has been nurtured in nature and passed from one generation to another.

This exhibition is a collection of 80 prize winning photographs selected from the competition entries. The exhibition aims to develop an understanding and respect for different cultures and traditions. It provides an opportunity for critical reflection and dialogue with practitioners and interaction with community on culture, society and sustainability issues of conserving culture as a heritage.

Three countries of the Asia - Pacific region: Japan, Mongolia and India, simultaneously held the Photo message exhibition between October and December 2009. The Centre for Environment Education (CEE) hosted the Photo message exhibition in India at Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Pune.

About Photo exhibition in Hindi About Photo exhibition in Marathi

Preparing for the Exhibition in India

Discussion of plan at Tokyo (August 2009)The meeting with the ACCU team in Tokyo during August 2009 was crucial in terms of developing a common understanding on deliverables of the programme. The exhibition and workshops plan including questionnaires and experiences of the ACCU team provided useful inputs in the planning of the India event. Seeing the panels displayed at the Tokyo Conference venue gave a good idea of the space requirements and lay-out possibilities.

Conceptualization and planning (September October 2009)The concept and plan for the exhibition in India evolved through several discussions with colleagues in CEE and potential partners in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Pune. At the national level UNESCO Delhi office and the Indian National Trust for Culture and Heritage (INTACH) were contacted to seek their advise and involvement.

It was planned that the exhibition would be held over three days at a popular public venue, where possible, in all the three cities. Workshops using the photo-message exhibition panels were planned for school, college and other groups. A questionnaire was developed for all visitors to the exhibition to understand their views on the photographs and the messages with them.

As the exhibition was traveling to three places using three different languages, all material for publicity and general information was developed in Gujarati for Ahmedabad, Hindi for Jaipur and in Marathi for Pune.

It was important to connect to the “Living Culture” of the city where the exhibition was being held. Therefore, it was planned to bring in a local perspective in each city by involving local partners, practitioners of arts and crafts, citizens involved in heritage and culture, and experts in related fields.

School and college students and teachers were envisaged to form a large part of those invited to visit the exhibition. It was planned to involve them in not only participating but also conducting of activities.

Strategic alliances with media (newspaper, radio and television) were made to ensure pre-event announcement and good coverage of the event and outcomes.

Invitation to the event

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A documentation plan using video interviews and photographs was made and commonly applied to the three cities. CEE's offices in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Pune took responsibility of hosting the exhibition in the respective cities. . Preparation of photo panels translation, printing and fabrication (including frames, deciding on display systems)A Hindi version of the photo panel text was prepared which captured the essence of the photo-messages. Final panels were printed including the English and Hindi text. For Pune, a separate panel with Marathi text was developed and placed below the photo-message panel.

The photo panel size was 23”x18”. The photo panels were framed without using glass to avoid glare of light on the photo. CEE's exhibit design team developed a basic system for display of the photo-panels, using transparent, strong plastic thread along with easy to use attachments. This was very versatile and was improvised upon in Jaipur and Pune to suit the requirements of the gallery.

Developing of publicity material (brochure, posters), putting up information on DESD website and CEE websiteA common programme brochure was developed and provided to each of the three organizers along with the ACCU photo-message books. Information on the upcoming programme and events were put up on the DESD website (www.desd.org) and updated as the programme progressed. Links were provided to the CEE website (www.ceeindia.org).

Poster publicizing the event

The brochure

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Digital copies of posters, banners, invitation cards and questionnaires prepared for Ahmedabad event, which was the first of the three, were forwarded to Jaipur and Pune.

Developing workshop format and questionnaires; pretesting and finalizing of questionnairesIit was decided that a 15-20 minute session would be held with every group that visited the exhibition. This would include a welcome and brief introduction to the concept of “living culture” using locale specific examples. A questionnaire based on the ACCU Tokyo format was planned.

A draft of the questionnaire and the format of the interactive workshop was pretested with 140 students of Rachna school in Ahmedabad. The feedback helped in further fine-tuning of the plan. The final questionnaire was then developed.

From the regional to the localIt was planned that the local city map would become the focus of an interactive exercise by inviting visitors to identify and mark their favourite/special sites which related to any aspect of living culture (eating places, markets, institutions, residential areas, streets, places of heritage importance etc.) on the map.

At Rachna School

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Volunteer trainingCEE staff members from different programme areas were oriented to the concept and the workshop format and methodology. This helped to create a group of facilitators for handling groups of visitors. Besides the workshop, other tasks were assigned to the team members (media facilitation, logistics, volunteer management, school and college group contacts, documentation, local event planning and organizing etc.)

MediaA pre-event briefing for the press was organized just before the inaugural panel discussion. The FM radio carried live interviews and announcement about the event on the same day from the venue. The newspapers, local TV channels and radio gave very good coverage on all the three days of the event.

FM Channel live interview from the venue

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PreparationA series of discussions were held with eminent people of the city on what constitutes the living culture of Ahmedabad, important sites, individuals and institutions. Based on these discussions, a few key aspects were shortlisted which could be highlighted as part of the event. These included the traditional arts and crafts such as kite making, matani pacchedi (block printing) and naubat (a family music tradition). The team visited different sites across the city to observe these activities and discuss with the practitioners the aspects of heritage and sustainability related to their craft. These craftspeople were also invited to share this with visitors to the exhibition. The literary heritage of the city was planned to be highlighted through folk performances, plays and readings at the venue.

Photo Message Exhibition in Ahmedabad

The Patang Makers of Patang gali

Ahmedabad's colourful kites are an occupation for entire generations of families living in the Patang gali of Jamalpur area of the city. Every shop on an average makes around 20000-25000 kites in a day. Each kite is made in seven different places in seven different operations. Right from the cutting of paper to the final touches to a kite, everything is done by hand. The work is very neat and precise done with great deal of finesse. Women at home are involved in many of the steps before the kite comes to its final shape. There are over 10 different varieties of kites some known as rocket, cheel and by similar other names. Some people in the Patang gali also specialize in making kites with different designs,

The special paper for the kites has always been brought from Hyderabad, while the sticks that form the skeleton of the kite come from Kolkata. Nothing is wasted as every paper cutting is used up either as tails of the kites or lastly sold as paper confetti. Besides paper, new plastic kites have now entered the market. These are make out of packaging waste plastic and foil material, and are the cheapest kites bought mostly by villagers.

Note f rom meet ing wi th Yusufbhai, Kite maker

Nobat - Nagara playing family

thKanubhai and Amirbhai are the 9 generation of nagara (drums) and shehnai (wind instrument) players, carrying on the tradition of playing the nobat to mark special occasions like births, deaths, marriages or the beginning and end of a war. Traditionally this performance was 6 times in a day, beginning from 4 am and ending at 11 pm. The tradition continues even today at the Rajano Hajiro in the heart of Ahmedabad city, where the family plays the nagaras and shehnai twice a day.

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Preparing for the event

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The eventDates: 28 31 October, 2009Venue: Centre for Environment Education, Thaltej Tekra, AhmedabadParticipants: 1500

Inaugural Panel Discussion on celebrating our living culture th(28 October 2009 evening)

Panelists: Mr. Bhikabhai and Mr. Shambhai Chitara, Traditional block printersMs. Rita Kothari, Professor, Mudra Institute of CommunicationMs. Shobita Punja, INTACHMs. Aditi Desai, Director, Drishti Media and Communications

The evening began with Ms. Mamata Pandya, Senior Programme Director at CEE sharing a story of a music tradition of the nagara carried forward by a family since 9 generations in Ahmedabad.

After inaugurating the ACCU exhibition by lighting of the lamp, the panelists shared their stories reflecting their experiences and understanding different aspects of living culture.

Bhikabhai and Shambhai talked about the impact of changing trends in printing on their 7 generations old tradition of block printing by hand, while describing the process of this special craft tradition of Ahmedabad.

Matani pacchedi - narrative shrine hangings

Bhikabhai Chitara and his son, Shambhai have continued the tradition of block printing matani pacchedi, which has been in their family since 7 generations. They have preserved the ancestral wooden block for special occasions. The traditional pacchedi is a rectangular large cloth piece that serves as a rear wall to the shrine of certain nomadic tribes of Gujarat. Stories around deities form the main visuals of the pacchedi alongwith use of nature motifs such as plants and wildlife. The pacchedi is made using colours made out of charcoal and such material locally available.

Bhikabhai's family worry about the future of this tradition which is threatened due to the advent of the screen printing process flooding the market with look-alike products. A second worry is the new developments on the river front. These have stopped the once flowing water - a necessary part of the process for making the pacchedi. The Chitaras now have to travel long distances to find flowing water. Despite the challenges, Bhikabhai says that the family tradition will continue.

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Ms. Rita Kothari talked about the way intergenerational learning takes place and traditions are passed through generations, giving examples of food and craft traditions in families.

Ms. Aditi Desai read out ghazals (urdu poetry) of Adil Mansuri, a well known poet from Gujarat, which talked about his observations on changing culture and how people respond to it.

Ms. Shobita Punja narrated stories from her experiences which were about nurturing and passing on values that are intrinsic to culture. Talking about the photographs in the exhibition, she mentioned “Everyone of these photographs has one story like that. Story that can change your life, stories that those traditions have some connection with their environment and if the environment changes, the tradition will change.”

Mr. Kartikeya Sarabhai stressed on the need to understand the concept of integrity of tradition and that a change in tradition should be made through this understanding. He mentioned that there is a depth and integrity in culture. It is not the form that is so important. The form can change but it is done through a certain understanding of the true meaning of what the tradition is.

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Workshops (29,30,31 October 2009)Each day saw numerous groups visiting the exhibition. The CEE team creatively facilitated the interactive sessions keeping in view the varying age, background, language and overall composition of the visiting groups. There was complete involvement and participation of the visitors who spent considerable time not only looking at the photographs but also in filling the questionnaire. An exciting part of the interaction was the use of the world map and identifying the different countries whose photographs were displayed, on the map.

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AmdaVadmA Map CornerThe AmdaVadmA (“in Ahmedabad”) map corner drew large numbers of all ages, who were keen to add their favourite spot.

Evening programmes at the venueDifferent aspects of living culture were demonstrated through performances on all the evenings.

Story reading by author Esther David: She shared stories about her father Reuben David who was the founder of the Ahmedabad Zoo. She also told other stories about interesting sites in the city which have stories attached which highlight intrinsic human values.

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Street theatre performance by college students highlighting the difference of perceptions between residents who live on the two sides of the river Sabarmati in Ahmedabad struck a chord with the audience which included people from both the areas.

Folk Theatre performance (Bhavai) Manekbabano Vesh, about one of the legends associated with the founding of the city of Ahmedabad 600 years ago was an interesting way to go back in time.

Reading of Vilopan, a story by one of Gujarat's most celebrated littérateurs, Zaverchand Meghani, by Aditi Desai brought to life the legend associated with Chanla Ol, one of the very old residential areas in the old city.

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In the cityThe Gujarat Sahitya Parishad (Gujarat Literature Body) organized a reading of poems about the city by young poets on one of the evenings during the event. This was at their premises where there was a good turn-out of literature lovers.

Six bookshops in the city put up a special display of books on culture and heritage at their premises on all the days of the exhibition. Two booksellers set up displays at the venue in CEE.

Architecture students from the city's prestigious School of Architecture led a cultural trail in the old city exploring the wooden architecture. This attracted many people who registered for it at the exhibition venue.

On an exploration of the city

Event poster at venue

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PreparationThe Jaipur team was closely involved in the planning of the Ahmedabad event. This experience helped to reduce the planning time for the Jaipur event. However, the team spent time in identifying and briefing the local crafts people who would be interacting with the groups visiting the exhibition. Tie-up with the local media was also well coordinated by Team Jaipur. A press conference for media was held at the venue an evening before the inauguration. The exhibition evoked tremendous response and very good coverage from both the English as well as vernacular media, newspapers as well as TV channels. A new feature introduced for this event was the invitation for submitting photographs about some aspect of the living culture of the city of Jaipur.

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Photo Message Exhibition in Jaipur

Venue banner

The eventDates: 3-5 November 2009Venue: Jawahar Kala Kendra, JaipurParticipants: 1500

rdInaugural (3 November, 2009)The inauguration of the exhibition was marked by the lighting of the lamp by traditional crafts people, in the presence of student groups. These included Mr. Babu Khan, a renowned International Kite Maker, Mr. Suraj N. Sharma, an award-winning photographer, Mr. Hemant Doraya, a blue pottery and block printing expert and owner of a textile firm in Jaipur, and Mahesh Swami, Faculty Advisor, Photography and Architecture Department, MNIT (full form) Jaipur.

Workshops (3,4,5 November 2009)The three days attracted large groups of students from schools as well as colleges. Here the challenge was to manage a meaningful interaction with much larger groups. In addition to organized groups, there was a continuous stream of other visitors who not only spent a lot of time viewing the photographs, but some of whom also came back a second time with family and friends. The venue of the exhibition is a cultural hub of the city and is always frequented by both the culture enthusiasts of the city and tourists. Thus there was a continuous flow of visitors to the exhibition, which included visitors from different parts of India and the world.

A photography workshop by a renowned photographer was a popular attraction on one of the days of the event.

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Jaipur Blue pottery

The art of blue pottery became synonymous to the city of Jaipur during the middle of the 19th century. Jaipur blue pottery contains no clay. It is turned or moulded from a mixture of quartz, green glass, borax, fuller's earth, and gum. It is then painted with metallic oxides, which turn into bright colours by firing. For example: cobalt oxide becomes a deep blue; chromium oxide becomes green; cadmium oxide becomes bright yellow; iron oxide becomes a red-brown. After painting, the piece is dipped into a glaze of glass, borax, and lead oxide and fired. Firing melts the glass, but the quartz remains.

Today, vases, flower pots, plates, bowls, tiles and other objects are produced in many workshops and are sold throughout Jaipur.

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Bagru block printing

Bagru, a village near Jaipur has evolved this special method of hand block printing using traditional vegetable dyes. Bagru's method of printing is completely eco-friendly. From treating the base cloth with Fuller's earth (multani mitti), soaking it in turmeric (haldi), to stamping the cloth with beautifully patterned blocks of wood using natural dyes of earthy hues, Bagru's prints are examples of eco-friendly textiles and printing practices. Added to that, natural coloring agents such as alum, turmeric, pomegranate, dried flowers, indigo, etc are used to add colorful designs and motifs to the fabric. Blue from indigo, green from indigo mixed with pomegranate rinds, red from madder root and yellow from turmeric. From vegetable dyes, natural fabrics, nature-inspired patterns and design, its products are ecologically natural.In spite of poor living and working conditions, the expert craftsmen of Bagru have kept the three-centuries-old tradition of block printing alive.

Workshops at the venue

Demonstrations of traditional craftA highlight of the exhibition was the on-site demonstration of kite-making, the famous Jaipur blue pottery, and Bagru block printing on textile. The practitioners explained the history and the process of their crafts to the visiting groups as well as provided an opportunity for hands-on craft making.

Adbhut (amazing) JaipurThere was enthusiastic response by local photographers and others who sent photographs with relevant messages. These were also displayed in one part of the photo gallery.

Demonstrating craft of kite making

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PreparationThe preparations for the event began in September 2009 with an initial discussion with the local chapter of INTACH to explore the possibility of partnership. A Briefing Note 'Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development: The links' was prepared to help enhance understanding about ICH and sustainable development. This was included in the material sent to resource persons, the media and others involved.

The preparatory discussions to explore the linkages between culture and development brought up a number of ideas for the photo message exhibition in Pune, Based on these ideas, visits to various potential venues and a number of discussions were done in November and December with potential partners including the local municipal authorities, museums, galleries and theatre groups, resource persons from various NGOs, educational institutes and crafts persons and media representatives in order to plan and organize the main exhibition and associated events.

Photo Message Exhibition in Pune

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The eventDates: 19-23 December 2009Venue: Yashwantrao Chavan Natyagriha, Kaladalan, PuneParticipants: 1043

thInaugural (19 December, 2009, evening)

The Photo Message Exhibition and Festival was inaugurated by the Mayor of Pune, Mr. Mohansingh Rajpal by lighting of the traditional lamp and watering a Tulsi (“Basil”, considered auspicious in the Hindu religion) plant. In his inaugural address, the Mayor said that the city's development is the journey of diverse cultures living and growing together harmoniously, and that Pune has developed its own unique culture and identity. He reiterated the responsibility of the present generation to inculcate the values and culture of sustainability in the coming generations.

Ms Madhavi Joshi, Programme Director, CEE West & DESD India introduced the ACCU ESD Photo Message Exhibition, and reported on the events of Ahmedabad and Jaipur. She spoke about the context of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development and the main message of the exhibition: culture as an integral part of sustainable development.

Ms Sanskriti Menon, Programme Director, CEE Central Regional Cell spoke about the plan of the event in Pune and the special discussions arranged to explore the links between culture and sustainability in the local context.

Mr. Sharvey Dhongde, Co-convenor, INTACH, Pune, spoke about how culture shapes the city and how it is inseparable from development and perceptions of development. He drew attention to the need for reflection on the role of culture in the context of Pune as the city is preparing the master plan for the core city, which has the oldest parts of Pune.

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Panel Discussion: Cultures of Sustainability, 19 December 2009Ms. Mini Srinavasan talked about the issue of quality and access to education for all taking examples from the city to discuss concerns. She also mentioned the importance of connecting learning to the local context.

Ms. Poornima Chikarmane who is keenly involved in solid waste management issues in the city, along with her teaching, talked about learning from already existing cultures of recycling and looking at waste as a resource. She underlined the importance of citizen action in influencing policy to enable integration of locale specific solutions to many urban developmental problems.

Dr. Madhav Gadgil talked about the role of research in sustainable development and highlighted work of eminent sociologists and educationists in shaping thought and providing innovative ideas, one of them being the Sarvajanik Sabha (people's forum). He also talked about the newer technologies in the information age which help in documenting and disseminating research. It was felt that a modern version of the Sarvajanik Sabha may be needed to proactively promote citizen research, using physical meetings as well as the electronic platforms like the wiki and bringing local public policy formation closer to academic and citizen research and action.

The evening ended with a performance of Powada, a powerful folk form of story narration from Maharashtra, using songs and dramatic expressions. The Powada mostly narrates stories of bravery from the life of Maratha warriors in Shivaji's (a revered Maratha king) time. The artists mesmerized the audience with their performance.

Panelists:

l Teaching-learning Ms. Mini Srinivasan, Action for the Rights of the Child

l Citizen Action Ms. Poornima Chikarmane Reader, Adult and Continuing Education, SNDT Women's University

l Research - Dr Madhav Gadgil, eminent ecologist and biodiversity expert

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Workshops

Workshops with school groups (20-23 December, 2009)A large turnout of schools especially from those managed by the Pune Municipal Corporation visited the exhibition. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had issued a notice to schools requesting participation in the exhibition. A bus was arranged by the PMC for the same. As most schools visited in the morning, it was a challenge for the team to handle the large number of visitors at the same time. The workshops were simultaneously held by the team at more than one spot. The response from the visitors was enthusiastic and they appreciated the local language (Marathi) translations of the photo panels.

Workshops on special themes:

Exploring Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainability, 21 December, 2009Mr. Dengle stressed the need and role of conservation of cultural heritage as an essential element of development. He talked about the importance of a desirable process of development of a city that takes cognizance of the natural and cultural resources.

Dr. Vijay Paranjpe commented on the traditional cultural attitude of the country that recognized sustainability of nature as provider and the changing outlook of contemporary culture. He illustrated through an example how this cultural attitude and understanding can be used as a tool to restate the importance of sustainable practices in citizens.

Mr. Chetan Sahasrabudhe stressed that the tangible and intangible are interrelated and that one should look at heritage holistically rather than in fragments.

Dr Tambe's presentation provided a new perspective on urban heritage. She looked at Pune's social history and drew from various sections of society that the city was home to. She enlarged the definition of heritage to include the voices of protest, change, revolution and socio-political movements. She urged not to look at heritage through a narrow window of the perspective of a certain class, but to start recognizing the myriad forms of heritage that a diverse urban population may create in its struggle to find an identity and recognition.

Following the panel presentations, the audience discussed several issues about the culture of heritage conservation, the history of Indian civilization and urban development, the issue of stakeholders participating in the conservation process and their aspirations, problems of cities today including transportation and decay of cultural heritage, inaction by authorities, lack of legal framework as well as compartmentalization and appropriation of heritage for narrow ends.

Panelists:

l Narendra Dengle, Noted Architect

l Chetan Sahasrabudhe, conservation architect and faculty member at BN College of Architecture

l Dr. Shruti Tambe, urban sociologist and faculty member at the University of Pune

l Dr. Vijay Paranjpe noted environmentalist and water expert, urban sociologist and faculty member at the University of Pune

l Architect Sharvey Dhongde, Co-Convener INTACH Pune moderated the session.

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Cultures of Sustainability: Workshop on Biodiversity ndConservation in Pune, 22 December 2009

The workshop brought together the Municipal Corporation, Forest Department, Non Governmental Organizations, academic experts, corporate group (Eaton Technologies) and citizens involved in biodiversity conservation action in Pune. They shared their common concern for reviving the culture of conservation through a shared mechanism that involved citizen action and policy. The session was chaired by Dr. Madhav Gadgil who highlighted the importance of documenting of local biodiversity and the need for a biodiversity management committee, as shared by Dr. A.N. Yellappa Reddy.

Cultures of Sustainability: Teaching and Learning in Pune, rd23 December 2009

The workshop explored the cultures and trends of teaching and learning in Pune. Participants shared ideas and experiences of making the city more conducive for children, and to make education itself more responsive to environment and social concerns.

One such idea is the need for dialogue between different segments of society with differing, and not necessarily inclusive, visions of development, which are reflected in the diversity of schools in the city. Recognising that the school is a microcosm of society complete with its various dimensions of unsustainability, the teachers and schools have a big challenge to make education transformative.

In the introductory talk, Ms Madhavi Kapoor from Aman Setu school spoke about the role of the school in society. She highlighted some elements evident in school education that perpetuate unsustainability, such as segregation and exclusion on the basis of economic class in urban areas, and the perception about and use of language as a tool of exclusion rather than as a means of communication. She said that a focus on values and critical thinking among teachers and school managers were two important dimensions of sustainability education. The school culture is set by the management, the principals and the teachers, and it is they who have to start such introspection. They must also proactively engage the parent community in the running of the school and the development of the school's policies.

The second session was a set of four presentations on efforts to develop school education packages on particular social and environmental issues. Dr Zakia Kurien shared educational packages which have values clarification as one of the objectives developed by Centre for Learning Resources (CLR) for teachers. She mentioned that these packages were very useful in initiating discussion on various topics such as equity and human rights. She elaborated on various

Speakers:

l Dr. Madhav Gadgill Dr. A. N. Yellapa

Reddy,

l Mr. Sanjay Pathak, IFS, Conservator of Forest, Pune Division

l Mr. Rohot Nayak, Clean Earht Movement

l Mr. Jagzap, Tree Officer Pune Municipal Corporation

l Ms. Tasneem Balasinorewala, Pune Tree Watch

l Eaton Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

l Ms. Bhavana, Ecological Society, Pune

Chairman, Biodiversity Management Committee, Bengaluru, Karnataka.

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approaches like open-ended stories and puppet shows which can be used for values clarification.

Ms Kanchan Prasad presented the work being done by Parisar (an organization working on urban transportation issues in Pune) with schools to promote understanding related to sustainable urban transportation. Aspects of values clarification, governance, equity etc are brought in through the school programme which consists of a questionnaire survey, classroom discussion, slide-show and film, followed by a suggestion to the students by Parisar that their findings from the questionnaire survey and views related to safe and sustainable transport to school be communicated to the municipal authorities.

Ms Neha Govindan and Ms Maitreyi Shankar from Swach (an organization working on solid waste management issues in Pune city), presented the solid waste scenario of the city, the role that rag-pickers play in recycling, and the linkages between efforts to improve the rag-pickers' work conditions, to enhance recycling, and to improve the overall systems for management of waste. The school education programme being developed by Swach focuses on helping children understand these various dimensions (social, environmental and economic) of solid waste management and to help them develop good solid waste management systems in the school and at home.

Ms. Supriya Goturkar from INTACH's Pune Chapter, spoke about the different aspects of Pune's heritage that the heritage education programme deals with, such as built, material, intangible and living heritage. The heritage education programme through a multi-media approach, helps to create a sense of identity, wonder and responsibility as well as a sense of place. Links are made to changes over time in architecture, town planning, social life and economic activity.

Mr Vijay Gupta from Shikshangan Foundation spoke on the topic 'Cultures of Education', based on Arnold Toynbee's work. He talked about the oral tradition of learning and education through apprenticeship i.e. learning in any field, by observation and imitation from other persons who are more accomplished than the learner, whereas the idea of formal education has come to India much later. He spoke about the need to enhance the status of teachers. He proposed the idea of paying higher salaries to teachers and ways to ensure leisure time was spent doing research by teachers.

Mr Nakul Kate from the Action for the Right of Child (ARC) presented the need to develop processes for tracking children of migrant families, especially in construction sites, who remain mobile within the

Speakers:

l Ms. Madhavi Kapoor, Aman Setu School.

l Dr. Zakia Kurien, Centre for Learning Resources.

l Ms.Kanchan Prasad and Mr. Sujit Patwardhan, Parisar

l Ms. Neha Govindan and Ms. Maitreyi Shankar, Swach

l Ms. Supriya Goturkar, INTACH

l Dr. Vijay Gupta, Shikshangan Foundation

l Mr. Nakul Kate, Action for the Right of Child

l Mr. Bhushan Nalage, PMCl Dr. John Kurien, Director,

Centre for Learning Resources

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city. This poses a challenge for getting the children into school. He also spoke about the need to strengthen the networks for stopping child labour in the city.

Mr Bhushan Nalage gave a presentation on the government provisions for out-of-school children and the ways in which the various groups can collaborate with the Sarva Shikha Abhiyan, a programme of the Government of India.

During the discussions, participants suggested that efforts like the ones presented need to be enlarged. Teacher orientation programmes do not usually have training components on sustainability issues, nor on methods such as values clarification. Strategies for working with schools to help them integrate sustainability aspects into teaching, school management and community relations need more though and discussion.

The Chair of the session, Dr John Kurien, Director, Centre for Learning Resources suggested that the dialogue initiated at this workshop should continue as the challenges are many and the need acute. An Education for Sustainability forum could be formed where NGOs, teachers and other educators could conceptualize ideas and strategies for changes in education.

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Demonstrations of traditional art, craft and celebration

Traditional Folk Painting Workshop, 20 December, 2009A workshop for children demonstrated various folk styles of painting from different parts of India. These included styles known as Mithila, Madhubani, Pata Chitra, Mandana, and Warli. The resource materials included a slide show on various painting styles; actual samples of Matani Pachedi (Ahmedabad), Madhubani (Bihar), Patachitra (Andhra Pradesh), Warli (Maharashtra) types of folk styles; charts prepared by Dastkaari Haat (a crafts institution promoting traditional craft people's work) depicting the arts and crafts of various states of India; copies of an outline map of India; natural colours (geru- red colour made from brick, chuna-white colour made from calcium carbonate??, turmeric for yellow colour, charcoal for black colour), paper, brushes etc.

The resource person Ms Sushruti initiated the session by starting to mix natural colours. This attracted a few children and she started to talk to them about what she was doing in a very informal way. Next she involved the children in discussion on the folk styles using the Dastakaari Haat charts. By then all the children had gathered around her and they started to ask questions. Sushruti then started the slide show, first talking about cave paintings in Bhimbetka and then going on to different folk styles. She drew attention to the content (farming activities, animals, designs and motifs etc), the colours used, who makes the drawings, where these are made traditionally (floor, wall), when (festival times, daily etc). Each child was given an outline map of India and asked to make a small drawing of a motif in the style being described in the corresponding state or region of India.

Shri Ravindra Sharma, an artist from Adilabad visiting Pune interacted with the children and spoke about the use of natural colours. He spoke about how folk art is a part of everyday life. Giving the example of how children make 'killa' (fort), during Diwali, he said that in his village, throughout the year children are involved in some or the other art and craft activity.

Later, children used colours made of geru, chuna, turmeric and charcoal to create their own drawings.

Warli Painting

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The Maker of Clay Idols, 20 December 2009Shri Chintamani Jawari, who makes shadu (a type of clay) idols demonstrated the making of a Ganapati (Ganesha the elephant God) idol using a mould. As he moulded the idol he narrated the changes in the idol making processes, consumer preferences etc. over the years. Through the efforts of a local NGO, he and his son are now working with a few schools to create awareness about safe festivals.

He expressed concern over the stereotype idol making with use of material like plaster of Paris. He felt that the devotion of the artist is lost from the process when the idol making becomes mechanical. He emphasized the need of popularizing the use of Shadu idols for better environment and pollution free rivers.

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Evening programme at the venue

thMangalagauri games, 20 December 2009Mangalagauri games are traditionally played by women from Maharashtra (wherein Pune is located) during the month of 'Shravan' according to the Hindu calendar, after worshipping Goddess Mangalagauri (Parvati, Lord Shiva's consort).The games used to be a social get-together and a way of integrating newly-wed girls into the family. They helped introduced the newly-wed to her duties in the new household through songs accompanying the games. The games are also a great form of exercise developing flexibility, stamina and over-all health. There are studies which support that these games contribute towards important acupressure points of the body. Thus promoting this form of cultural heritage also promotes women's health.

A group of 13 women wearing traditional Paithani sarees and jewellery, performed these games. The Akanksha group performs these games on invitation by many families from Pune, in the process, helping introduce the new generation to this tradition. The honorarium given towards their performance is donated by Akanksha to a rehabilitation centre.

Promoting this form of cultural heritage also promotes women's health.

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rdCelebrating Communities Drum Circle, 23 December 2009

The last event of the Photo Message Exhibition was a Community Drum Circle, facilitated by percussionist and clinical psychologist Mr. Varun Venkit. He also runs a drum class and plays with a local band called Agnee. People have been meeting and drumming together for centuries. In recent times, drum circles are organized as facilitated events with specific aims such as stress therapy, community building and fun. For Varun, organizing the Drum Circles is a way of combining his two vocations: drums and psychology.

Playing the drums together generates a lot of collective energy and synergy. In Pune, Drum Circles have been organized regularly in different parts of the city, and have a regular attendance from people from different walks of life. The Drum Circle is just what it sounds like people come together, sit in a circle and play the drums (or a shaker a soft drink can filled with pebbles or seeds). The facilitator explains how to position the drum (in this case, these were mostly djembes African drums) and how to strike the drum with your palms. He asks someone to start off a simple beat, and others join in. The tempo and beat change with the participants themselves bringing in variations. The facilitator might direct the participants to slow down or speed up, to pause a few seconds and start up again. The groups may play together or in groups creating a rhythm of their own.

The drum circle brought in an example of a positive cultural practice that is a modern adaptation of an age-old one.

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Pune corner - Places I Like

'Places I Like' was conceived as a map-based activity for visitors to mark out the places they like in the city and what type of feelings they have for these places. The Heritage Map of Pune, prepared by Intach was enlarged and used as the base map. There was a great interest among people to mark their favourite place on the map.

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NGO Display

Pune has a proud heritage of movements related to issues of equity, justice and self-governance. Considering their contribution towards sustainable development, CEE invited select institutions to display their work and products. The exhibition of publications and products by civil society organizations was conceptualized as a celebration of the living culture of civic engagement and responsibility towards the environment, of promotion of equity, human rights and respect for all.

The NGO exhibit helped provoke discussions and debates among exhibition visitors. All the NGOs also participated in the workshops and public events arranged during the Photo Message exhibition and offered their views and expertise during the discussions.

In the city

INTACH conducted a City and Sustainability Walk on 25 December 2009 taking the group on an exploration of the living culture and traditions, both traditional and modern.

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Visitors' Feedback (analysis of questionnaires and from video interviews)

The photo-message exhibition was appreciated by everyone who had the opportunity to see it. The visitors were observed taking their time over the photographs they seemed to like. Most also went back to see the photographs while responding to the questions in the questionnaires.

Based on the responses to the questionnaires, it was found that the most favourite photograph was the “Little Bride” from Nepal, followed by “Farmer in the Field Terraces” from China, and “Sculptor of a Goddess from Bangladesh”.

A flavour of feedbackThe photo-message exhibition provided an opportunity for visitors to connect at a very personal level to the pictures and the messages they conveyed. Also their education and background seemed to play a role in the way they related to the pictures.

l Little Bride The photograph itself especially the innocence coming through the girl's eyes, her attire and accessories attracted attention. There were mixed reactions to the title and the message. While a lot of people felt that the photograph conveyed a positive message regarding safeguarding women against exploitation and safeguarding their reproductive health, some felt that marrying girls even to a fruit/tree was not right and exploitative in itself. Some thought it was about child marriage and spoke about how the issue needed to be addressed as there are still such instances.

l Farmer in the Field Terraces This photograph was liked by many visitors because of its composition. They described it as 'unique', 'spectacular', 'beautiful', 'fantastic'…People commented that it was very creative, different and looked like a design from a distance. They felt that it depicted the beauty of nature well. It captured the deepness and tranquility of life, some said it looked like heaven on earth. Most identified with the terrace farming as a practice similar to some parts of paddy farming in India.

“All these pictures, though they are from different parts of the world, in each of them you will find something that is from your own experience and your life. The world is one basically.”

-Visitor

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l The Sculpture of a GoddessThis photograph was liked because of its composition which makes it look real. People related to the artist and his craft as shown in the photograph as being close to Indian culture and their experience. They felt that the artist's involvement in his craft was total and almost spiritual.

Some generic responses

Quality of photographs: Black and white photographs were liked by a lot of people for their use of light and shade; many others were liked for their composition and the way a moment had been framed in the picture. The vibrant colours too were equally appreciated. The format of the overall exhibition, which included a photograph with a message, was well appreciated by all.

Family: The importance of family, bonding and sharing was an important connection made by people to the photographs.

Reminds of their childhood, what they do at home: Some of the photographs were very close to the viewers' own experiences as a child and therefore struck an instant chord in them. They felt that childhood was a special time in one's life and one must cherish these moments. Tradition and Culture across religious and geographical divide: There are commonalities in tradition and cultural core values across religion and geographical divide. While there may be some difference in expressions, and forms may change with the context, there are many things that seem very similar to our experience.

Values such as showing respect to elders, religious things: Among core values that are common across cultures, is that of showing respect.

Sharing happiness, celebrating together: Celebration of festivals together and sharing happiness as a village or as a family come across as important values which people relate to.

Intergenerational learning, passing on of tradition: Respect for tradition and the older generation passing on tradition to the younger generation helps keep traditions alive.

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Connecting to the familiar: A similarity in tradition, ritual, a way a game is played or a value is depicted in the photograph was an important reason for people to connect to the photographs. They found many such things that instantly reminded them of their experience. This helped in getting them more involved with the exhibition.

Familiar yet different, introduction to another culture: “A window to another culture”e was how one person described this exhibition. While visitors found a lot of similarity to India, they also came to know about completely new places and their little stories.

Never seen anything like this before: The breathtaking photographs such as the Kecak 5000 and The Farmer in the Fields were popular mainly because they looked so like a “picture book”. People commented that they had never seen anything like this before.

Close to reality powerful message: Natural looking, close to reality kind of photographs too were liked. The photograph from Vanuatu about the boy painting for posterity was appreciated by some for its close connection to present day issues like global warming.

The photo-message exhibition connected to whoever came to visit in a very special way. Because the photographs also came with a written message, people felt that it added value and was different from the photo exhibitions they generally see.

Conclusion

The ACCU Photo-message Exhibition was an unique opportunity for CEE to explore and present ESD from a different perspective. The teams were very excited and put in a lot of thought and effort in structuring the exhibition meaningfully. The unique component to the event was the creative way in which each city team added the local living culture aspect to it. That made each of the three events different from each other, while still keeping the core objectives and methodology intact.

As the involvement and programme canvas expanded, the CEE team found that it was going well beyond the original brief and budget of the project. CEE is proud and happy to have been a part of, and contributed to the programme.

“I liked the photographs which don't obviously discuss culture as a festive activity, but are about day-to-day performing of activities. Those are ones where rituals and family traditions are embedded in the psyche.”

-Narendra Dengle, Architect

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Rediscover PuneSchool activity developed by Pune team

Thrust Areas: Heritage (types and importance)Subject: Social Science, BiologyPlace: Indoor, OutdoorGroup Size: 10 to 40 personsDuration: 30 - 45 minutess

Objectives: • To help participants understand what is heritage, and types of heritage• Initiate discussion on ways of heritage conservation and idea of co-existence/

religious harmony in a subtle way.

Materials: Set of cards with images of heritage sites of Pune (for example, Shaniwar Wada, Vishrambag Wada, Tambat Ali, Pataleshwar, Tulshi bag, Synagogue, National Film Archives, Fergusson college, Sadashiv Peth Haud, Shinde Chhatri, Modern Bakery/Golden Bakery, Shivapur Darga; arts and craft traditions like the Paithani weave, Kirtan (devotional music), Powada (folk music); some recipes like sheer khurma, Marathi thali, etc.

Activity:Make the participants stand or sit in a circle. Ask one participant to volunteer. Affix a card on the back of the volunteer participant. The participant doesn’t know what the card is. Now ask the participant to walk around the circle, so the other students can see what the card represents.

The task for the volunteer is to identify what he/she represents by asking relevant questions. The others must answer questions only with either a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.The facilitator can help the participant in the logical choice of questions. Here are some guidelines that may be helpful to frame questions:

Background InformationHeritage is defined as practices and places that are handed down from past to us. It is the full range of our inherited traditions, monuments, objects, and culture. Most important, it is the range of contemporary activities, meanings, and behaviors that we draw from them. It is important to conserve heritage because it can be an element of far-sighted urban and regional planning. It can be the platform for political recognition, a medium for intercultural dialogue, a means of ethical reflection, and the potential basis for local economic development. Heritage can be of following types: Environmental (hot specks, reserved forests, gardens etc.), Architectural (wadas – residential buildings, monuments, worship places etc.), Archaeological (caves, remains of built structures), crafts (clothes, pottery, instruments etc.), Intangible (music, stories etc.) – Tangible and Intangible.

1. Type of heritage –Tangible and Intangible2. If Tangible - environmental, architectural, archaeological, crafts3. If Intangible – festival, music, drama etc.4. Popular (visited by many) or less visited5. Connected to religion or culture or overlapping?6. Followed individually or by a group together7. Era it started in – Pre or post Moghuls/Shivaji/Peshwas/British8. Which part of city (or followed everywhere)9. Can be observed everyday or on particular occasions

Observations of the creator of the activity:1. One can play the game with both tangible and intangible cultures as part of it or focus only on

one type depending on the age and understanding of participants and facilitator as well2. Heritage has overlapping components (Pataleshwar caves can be archaeological as well as

religious heritage) and not discussed in formal curriculum to a great extent. Hence facilitator

plays major role in the activity.3. The activity is a good learning opportunity for the facilitator as game doesn’t have to strictly

follow the cards. Suggestions can come from the participants. 4. The activity can be used to compile information about a particular theme, e.g.,

gardens/museums/recreational places etc. from the participants 5. The activity is an excellent opportunity to sow seeds of co-existence and generate curiosity

about other cultures. 6. The activity can be excellent ice-breaker. It can be helpful if the facilitator understands background of the participants and is sensitive to that.

Photo Message Exhibition in the News

Ahmedabad

Jaipur

Pune

Questionnaire - English

Questionnaire - Gujarati

Questionnaire - Hindi

Questionnaire - Marathi

Centre for Environment Education Nehru Foundation for Development, Thaltej Tekra, Ahmedabad 380 054 INDIA

Tel: +091-79 - 26844827, 26858002, URL: http://www.ceeindia.org

Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU)6, Fukuromachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8484 JAPAN

Tel: +81-3-3269-4559, URL: http://www.accu.or.jp