GREEN REALITY : To lay foundation towards a"Green Based”development processes,to a Green Country
Colombo, Sri LankaALL CITEIS, Sri Lanka
Year Founded:
Project Stage:
2015
Organization type:
hybrid
Start-Up
Budget:
$50,000 - $100,000
- Business
- Social Investment
- Communications
- Consumer protection
- Corporate social responsibility
- Fundraising
- Information & communication technology
- Marketing
- Networking
- Education
- Youth development
- Adult education
- Community development
- Design
- Economic development
- Rural development
- Sustainable development
- Technology
- Urban development
- Animal rights
- Eco Products
- Ecology
- Global Warming
- Recycling
- Biodiversity
- Climate change
- Conservation
- Environment
- Environmental justice
- Green business
- Green consumerism
- Rural
- Sustainable agriculture
- Sustainability
- Arts & culture
- Freedom of Information
- Citizen participation
- Citizen sector
- Democracy & voting
- Ethics
- Journalism
- News & knowledge
- Public policy
- Social work
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
300 Green based projects will be conducted during the Green Reality Project.
Eg: Having competitive carbon neutral Schools.
“GankandaVidyalaya” has implemented a carbon neutral project. The students who participated in the workshop, learned about the “Green Concepts” and spread the message among School community. Then teachers and students have a discussion and given their suggestions such as using emails instead of letters, use solar power as an energy source, practice 3R concept and Plant trees in the available areas inside the school to reduce carbon emission. Then they have started a Tree planting project and each student in the school planted a tree and looked after it. After 10 years of time, GankandaVidyalaya” will be Green.
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.
Project was initiated in year 2015 and an approval was taken and action plan has been prepared. Workshops have been planned to make all the parties aware of it. Schools and the villages have been selected using a prepared criteria to fulfil the objectives. Ideas and suggestions were taken from the academics in the field and all the parties concerned and it was revealed that everybody was positive with the concept and agreed to give their cooperation. (5 Academics 3 Principals 10 Teachers and 25 Students, 10 villages and 5 Leading Companies were included in the discussion.) Forestry and Environmental Science Department of University of Sri Jayewardenepura is the only department available in Sri Lankan university network, and given the consent to implement the project. The agreement will be signed among University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Capital Maharaja Group and the “Green Reality Team".
Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?
In the first stage the message of being Green will be spread sharing knowledge and practicing eco-friendly activities among 200 schools and 100 villages island-wide. These Projects will be telecast through the Reality show and the idea will be inculcated among all the Sri Lankans. With the introduction of the new subject the idea will be inculcated among the school populations. The findings of the Research will be presented in both local and international conferences. This process will be expanded and practiced throughout the island continuously and an eco-cult era will emerge in 20 years.
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
All the others have proposed a single project and they always have become a part of our project. Our project consists of 300 projects that covers a wider scope. The impact of our program will penetrate through several generations to come and to the whole country. Our approach is to change the attitude of the people in order to have a sustainable solution rather than a temporary one. It is a giant step towards an Eco-cult era and to become the first ever Green Nation in the whole world.
Founding Story
"With the experience I have gained working through number of Environment related activities, and projects the seed of being Green conceived in me. Then I wanted to spread the message of being green among all. Then I thought of the best means of implementing the idea and the reality show came to my mind. Therefor I designed a reality show which combined the Green concept along with the reality experience. So I designed to implement 200 Green projects in Schools, and 100 large scales Green projects in villages by leading companies to make an impact. The positive responses given by all the parties expedited the process. Then I was able to find a well skilled team of Graduates to make it happen.
Team
The project team consists of 50 Graduates who have taken the subject Forestry and Environmental Science who are truly interested in green concept. Several teams are appointed to implement the major activities of the project such as financial team, workshop team, research team, documenting teams, coordinating team etc. A board of Directors has been appointed taking into consideration the expertise knowledge and the experience. There will be a team selected to part time duties such as conducting surveys and workshops.
Please confirm how you heard about the Unilever Awards:
Friend
Please confirm your role in the initiative (eg Founder/co-Founder) and your organisational title:
Founder
Which of the 8 UN Global Goals (Sustainable Development Goals) pre-selected for this competition does your solution relate most closely to? [select all that apply]
Decent Work and Economic Growth, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action.
Please provide examples of any previous entrepreneurial initiatives you have pioneered.
Co-founder of the Tropical Climate Change Education and Research Center
Beyond your existing team, who else are you working with to achieve your objectives, eg partners, advisors, mentors?
An Advisory board consisting of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardanepura Prof.SampathAmaratunge, Dr.Priyan Perera and Senior Lecturers in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Sciences.
Mentors have been appointed to intervene when necessary.
Mr.ChevaanDevavarathan Daniel- Group Director, Mr .Piyavi wijewardene- Excutive Officer- The Capital Maharaja Organization.
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