Bhubaneswar: Youths from across the country, Sunday, brainstormed on ways to make the country a better place to live in by adapting to sustainable ways. People from different disciplines descended on the state capital for the event.
The event marked the 11th edition of such a session. This is said to be one of the biggest platforms for youth action in India for sustainability named as Young India Challenge (YIC). It is a platform created by Human Circle to find solutions to India’s biggest challenges like climate crisis and young peoples’ mental health.
The organisers said that in the latest edition, 12 participants from across the country participated and put forth their ideas on ways to tackle some of the burning issues of the country.
“We came up with the idea of making clubs at premier educational institutions and taking the youths onboard from different disciplines who want to bring change in the society with their expertise. We undertake activities ranging from auditing restaurants and canteens for sustainable sourcing to several others,” said Punyasloka Panda, lead volunteer coordinator, Youth for Sustainability clubs.
Kamal Seth, India Representative of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) said, “According to a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) study, every second product we buy on a day-to-day basis has an ingredient of palm which has often been connected with deforestation related issues. In India, we have started educating and training, palm oil farmers for sustainable agricultural practices, and getting a premium from the market for their certified crop.”
Organisations like Human Circle, RSPO, UN Live, Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) and many others have come together to create a new initiative Youth for Sustainability. As a part of the initiative, six such clubs across have been launched across Odisha with plans to expand to other cities soon.