AGI; Alphonsian Green Initiatives 

Title: Alphonsian Green Initiatives (AGI)

Narration: 

AGI is a declared best practice of Alphonsa College Thiruvambady and it is an umbrella term comprising the activities of Green Club, Water Management Club and Waste Management Club.  Environmental Policy of Alphonsa College Thiruvambady is enacted through AGI

Objective of the Practice:

• To instill a sense of responsibility for keeping our environment sustainable

• To make the youth lovers of nature and committed to ecological prosperity  

• To promote equitable use of natural resources in view of conservation of the sources to the upcoming generations   

• To protect natural greenery, verdant, natural bodies and their environment

• To introduce the coherent ways for sustainable development 

The Context: 

The ongoing debates on ecological prognosis with particular reference to Madhav-Gadgil Report, Kasturirangan Reports and various other ecological prospectus related to Western Ghats, factors like ozone layer depletion, uncalculated climate changes, global warming and so on make it an urgency to introduce the students and stakeholders to be aware and equipped of the ecological concerns, i. e., how to make a synthesis of development versus conservation and anthropocentrism versus ecocentrism.

The Practice:

The functioning of AGI is broadly divided into two: (1) Intellectual formation and (2) Field work. 

Intellectual formation is been carried out by the following:

1. The deliberate choice of courses which convey ecological information

2. The promotion of academic projects and empirical surveys basing on ecological concepts

3. The conduction of Ecological Awareness Campaigns both inside and outside the campus

4. Observances of days which are ecologically significant     

Field Works are been carried out by the following:

1. Activities of Green Club, Water Management Club and Waste Management Clubs in the campus.

2. Out of Campus activities by the students of the institution to know the nature and promote the sustainable development

3. Collaborating activities with other sister institutions and local bodies of government in conducting ecologically sound programmes

Uniqueness in the context of Indian Higher Education

UGC in its Quality Mandate for Higher Education Institutions in India (2021) and in its  Circular D. O. No. F. 1 -212017 (CPP -ll) dated 19th June 2017 made it mandatory that Environmental Studies be taught in the Higher Education Institutions.  Nonetheless, the world is at caution that its erratic treatment of nature in time forgone is now bouncing  back as natural calamities and climate change which make life (human, animal or vegetation) untenable in the world.  Thus, it is ideal to press the fact that knowing nature, turning back to nature and helping the companions to know nature is the ideal thing in academia. 

Constraints faced in the practice:

The academic procedures designed by the curriculum still remain theoretical to a large extent.  The outcomes are measured mostly by the capacity to remember what is taught in the classrooms and by the capacity to reproduce it exactly. The major difficulty in the execution of the AGI mission was the hectic academic schedules.  There is an urgent need of  rephrasing the academia where the assessment of capacity to remember is replaced with capacity to apply theory into practicum, capacity to analyse and evaluate by oneself, and the capacity to create newer designs.  

There are greater things in the minds, in the paper, in the events and in the success stories of AGI clubs and forums, but not measurable in the assessment system.  Education has turned from gathering information to acquiring formation in AGI schemes, but what drags them behind is the established notion that activities of environmental clubs and forums are simply ‘extra’- curricular. 

Evidence of Success:

Different Clubs and Forums under AGI set their targets in the form of Annual Action Plans before the commencement of every academic year. Timely reminders are given every month through the publication of Monthly Planners. The accomplishment of the targets are assessed continuously; post event evaluation sessions, monthly reviews and annual reviews.  There are positive results indicators from the part of pupils, beneficiaries and other stakeholders. District Green Champion Award one of its laurels of AGI. 

Problems Encountered and Resources Required: 

1. Constant monitoring and appraisal is required for the success of AGI initiatives.  The stakeholders are generally thrilled by initial impulses but few succeed. Grace marks or badges may be provided for the pupils who sustain in environmental passion. 

2. Environmental initiatives are to be recognized as co-curricular and not as extra-curricular activities.