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The 'Our Place' project is an initiative of Ozgreen -The Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (Australia) (http://www.ozgreen.org.au/ourplace/ourplace.html). The project helps groups from diverse parts of the world, including the Asia region and Australia, to share their stories and ideas about what they are doing to address the global water crisis. Students from Tulsi Vidya Niketa School in Varanasi, India, who belong to the project, share their observations on their nearest river, the Ganges, in Voices & Values: Citizenship in Asia (pp 9-10). They also share their ideas and dreams for the future of the environment. Following is an example of another group involved in the project.

The Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala, India
http://www.ozgreen.org.au/ourplace/tibet.html

There are about 11,000 Tibetan refugee children in India attending schools specifically established for them. The Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala is one example. It is a boarding school and conducts classes for students from Kindergarten to Year 10. There are approximately 95 staff, including teachers, cooks, cleaners and home mothers at the school. Following is their description of the Environment Club at the school and its activities:

Tibetan Children's Village (TCV) Environment Club

'The participating group for this project is the Environment Club. Every Saturday, the Environment Club is held for one and a half hours. This club is led by Gen Passang Tsering and Gen Tashi Guthar. Both of them are our teachers.

The Environment Club does many jobs around the school. Last year we started recycling the staff school garbage for collection. On HH the Dalai Lama's birthday we took part in planting 300 trees. We also visited the Tibetan Environment Desk to share thoughts and ideas with Mr Tsultrim Palden.

Our future plans include a play with a theme about the Environment, a bulletin board to teach others about the environment and a Compost Belt.'

'THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY'

Questions and Activities

• Design a 'Join the Club' poster which illustrates the activities of the TCV Environment Club to recruit other student members.

• If there was an environment club in your school, what types of environmental actions would you suggest be undertaken within and outside the school? Why? Discuss this in pairs and present your ideas to the class.

• In small groups, develop a roleplay of a TCV Environment Club meeting about working on one or two of the future plans they mention. What problems might they encounter? How would they plan to overcome these?

• The TCV Environment Club encourages everybody to 'Think Globally, Act Locally'. Using this motto and your understanding of the club, develop a logo or emblem that the club can use to promote and identify its activities.

• The TCV Environment Club marked the birthday of their religious leader, the Dalai Lama, with a special environmental activity. What national event(s) could you mark with a similar activity in Australia? What activity would you suggest? Why?

• The TCV Environment Club indicates that they have two teachers who lead the group at the school. Interview some of your teachers to investigate what they think could be the aims and activities of an environmental club in your school.