Team:IISER-Bhopal-India/outreach
Introduction
We not only wish to find a sustainable solution to the problems that the world is grappling with today but also hope to seed in all individuals the drive to be responsible human beings and to equip them with the information and tools to achieve the same.
‘Gyan baatne se badhta hai', is a very famous and common saying in the Hindi language which literally translates to ‘spreading knowledge among people increases it’. We firmly believe in the same hence, we made significant efforts to reach out and acquaint the as of yet unacquainted, to synthetic biology, iGEM, and MethNote.
One of the main problems India now faces is that most of the educational innovations are fit to improve the quality of urban education and has become a money minting business model. Thus, on the other hand, rural and state-funded schools remain largely neglected. With around 65% of the population residing in rural India, education there truly deserves much more attention. IISER Bhopal had aimed to reach the marginalized and state-funded schools around our institute to engage and make them aware of the environmental problems through our outreach activities. Along with it, we included other institutions as well.
Apart from reaching out and sharing knowledge, we firmly believe in the motto, ‘Actions always speak louder than Voice’. Being under the ‘Environment’ track, doing our best to contribute to a greener tomorrow has also been always one of our priorities.
Our Outreach Program was divided into three principles: Reach, Teach and Practice!
Reach : Spreading the word
Our first part of outreach was aimed at reaching out to maximum schools and colleges around Bhopal City to spread the word about iGEM and the importance of our project.
We met and interacted with people from various walks of life regarding iGEM, and how our project is contributing to help curb methane leaks. This was a significant milestone for us to achieve, especially since we are hailing from a city that has experienced the worst faces of gas leakage- The Bhopal gas tragedy- a gas leak incident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. As of 2010, it was considered to be the world's worst industrial disaster.
We visited few educational institutions nearby (Sarojini Naidu Govt Girls' Post-Graduate College, Regional Institute of Education, AIl India Institute of Medical Sciences and Career College) as part of it. We shared our flyer which briefly introduced synthetic biology, our project, and what we seek to achieve.
The local teachers also helped us spread our word.
We hope these efforts would sow the seeds of inquisitiveness, enthusiasm to pursue similar projects and would help develop scientific aptitude among masses.
Teach : Engaging the students
It is when you have to explain it to a kid that you realize where you stand and how far you have to go. And we, the team here at IISER Bhopal love such sessions!
Our second session of Outreach was targeted at high school students and college students, in order to inspire their future endeavors in synthetic biology, to give them reasons to pursue it and give them a sneak a peek into our project and about iGEM competition. To achieve our objectives we went around Bhopal over a few days and identified various schools where we could hold interactions with the curious young minds of Bhopal.
We had a successful interaction with the senior secondary students and authorities of Government Subhash Higher Secondary School For Excellence, Kendriya Vidyalaya and Saifia Science College. We could engage them throughout successfully, and explain the importance of our project. It was heartening to see numerous questions coming our way which was indicative of the interest received and the curiosity garnered. Many of them met us after our session to inquire more about our project. We were glad that we could clear most of them, if not all. We also received constructive feedback for our project which has proven to be an added advantage. Parallel on the same lines, through RAA (Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan), a flagship program under Government of India to nurture a spirit of inquiry and creativity for school children, we reached out to government schools in Bakaniya and Jamoniyachhir, that IISER Bhopal mentors. Here, our interactive session was focussed on global climate change, pollution and the role methane gas is playing in these. In an attempt to make a lasting impact and to ensure that this wouldn’t end up like a regular lecture, the interactive session was peppered with fun games that enabled the students to effectively grasp the concept.
Practice : For a greener tomorrow
Our institute had taken-up a green initiative for sowing a million trees on August 9, 2018, at 1500 Hrs. on the campus hill of IISER Bhopal, Bhopal, as part of the 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations of the Father of Our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The theme adopted was “Let the Pollution Quit India”.We joined our institute by duly forming a human chain and randomly sowing a million seeds which were earlier collected for afforestation.
This campus hill is spread over about 25 acres that can be developed into a dense forest and a herbarium to nurture flora and fauna, specific to the region.
This green initiative resounded well with us because its goal was in the same vein as that of ours, i.e. to tackle global warming.
All these initiatives helped us build a general interest in the field of synthetic biology, iGEM and showcase students the need and future of Synthetic Biology.
Returning back from outreach sessions with a contented mind was all that it costed us to get inspired and motivated from the young minds and people around us to keep moving toward our wider goal of achieving a better, greener tomorrow, and to develop science to tackle the issues of the environment!