“With great pleasure, we announce your well-deserved success in this program. Your sustainable and green solutions not only impressed the judges but also showcased your commitment to making a positive impact on our environment and society on the whole,” announced the Program Manager from 1M1B Foundation, a United Nations accredited Bangalore-based non-profit, who collaborated with CBSE and Aditya Birla Fashion Retail to organise this nation-wide Program with CBSE schools. The program aimed at building and testing critical skillsets, mindsets and toolsets in problem-solving, flexibility and empathy using digital technologies and digital creativity amongst the selected school students of classes 10th-12th.
After preliminary screening of students, the program cohort of some 10000 students embarked on this challenging journey from 23rd May 2023, attending live sessions, participating in mission-based challenges to a sustainability problem, submitting assignments, recording speeches, making presentations, etc. Students acquired points after every mission completion, and performance evaluation was done after every two missions as to who moved forward to the next phase of the program. After more than four months of rigour, 12 students have been declared winners of the Program cohort, and they won a week-long internship in Bengaluru in November 2023. This internship opportunity will allow students further to enhance their skills and knowledge in the sustainability field while working alongside industry experts.
Suhani focused on waste management as her interest area and passionately pursued the incredible journey. After the initial 6-weeks, the competition intensified, demanding more time and skills. Participants were tasked with designing prototype solutions for their identified problems, conducting cost-benefit analyses, constructing business model canvases, and mapping out ecosystems while identifying stakeholders and their roles. They had to assess the viability and potential impact of their proposed solutions. Suhani conducted a user study on her prototype solution -Distributing colour-coded dustbins to the households, incentivising segregation and app-based monitoring – a 3D Waste Management solution, as she called it.
Finally, her work shaped a comprehensive research paper, “Assessment of Factors Affecting Segregation of Solid Waste at Source and Waste Management Practices in Urban Areas in Punjab, ” published in an International Journal in August 2023.
Also, during the program, the concept for a ‘Sustainability Leaders Program’ for students was born – a program designed to ignite creativity and innovation in students while providing them with hands-on exposure to the real-world challenges of sustainability. She specifically honed in on the critical issue of waste segregation at its source for sustainable urban living.
Suhani has dedicatedly crafted the contents of her program’s website, https://sustainableleaders1.wixsite.com/sustainabilityleader. Some 1150 students in the Mohali district are benefiting from the program. She also gave a talk to the students of DPS Mohali and was interviewed at Doordarshan Chandigarh. “Soon, the program will start in UT Chandigarh and expand across Punjab. All thanks to my school for introducing me to the Sustainability Accelerator Program!” Suhani quips.
