RCE Greater Dhaka-2017

rce_proj_title_2013
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1. Project Title: 
Environmental Volunteering as an ESD tool towards implementing SDGs in Bangladesh
2. Thematic area/s addressed by the project
3. Project partner contact information : 
Organization: 
Centre for Global Environmental Culture (CGEC) Host Organization of RCE Greater Dhaka
Role: 
Works on implementing ESD in RCE Greater Dhaka
Main Contact: 
Professor Dr Mohammed Ataur Rahman, Director, CGEC
Name: 
Professor Dr Mohammed Ataur Rahman
Affiliation: 
International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Alternative project contact: 
Name: 
Professor Selina Nargis
Affiliation: 
International University of Business Agriculture and Technology
4. Project type
5. Project description
Provide a short description of the project including strategies, regional challenges, aims and specific project activities.: 

Environmental volunteering is an emerging field in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Beside the traditional field of volunteering it includes different activities related to socio-ecological conservation of a nation.  Compare to the developed countries, participation in conventional volunteering activities are relatively low in Bangladesh. However, Bangladesh has a rich history in traditional social volunteering. Since the inception of RCE (Regional Centre of Expertise) Greater Dhaka, the organization has been working to orient and structure environmental volunteering as an integral part of ESD. It is actively promoting ESD based volunteering engaging the youths in and outside the country to transform the society. Initially, the volunteering activities of the centre were mainly concentrated within urban educational institutions but it is now expanded in the urban and rural communities. This centre is involved in carrying out volunteering activities for practicing ESD, disaster management, community health, hygiene and nutritional programs and in sustainable agricultural practices through organic farming. RCE Greater Dhaka is playing a key role in integrating volunteering activity in the main stream of ESD and imparting a dynamic multidirectional role for the community by overcoming the financial constraints of this least developed country. It is found that, the role of environmental volunteering is beyond the price range for overcoming the resource barrier. Through its selfless collective effort it has reached at the every scale of society such as education, health, disasters, farming and biodiversity conservation etc. This centre has developed and refined the sets of motivations and modes through engagement of volunteers and their coordinators from different environmental groups of the country to promote community education. It is also making the centre a global hub for environmental volunteering activism.  

7. Provide references and reference materials : 
6. Project status
On Going
Description: 
The project, 'Environmental Volunteering as an ESD tool towards implementing SDGs in Bangladesh' has been started under RCE Greater Dhaka in 2016. Although CGEC, WWOOF Bangladesh, College of Health and Sciences, RCY(Chittagong) and other RCE partners are involved in volunteering programs since 1991.
To understand the role of volunteering in local and national building program, RCE Greater Dhaka has included environmental volunteering in the ESD curricula in the undergraduate level first time in Bangladesh and the students are being trained on environmental volunteering. The IUBAT University, host institute of RCE Greater Dhaka is cultivating 100+ schools and colleges every year with its benevolent volunteers and transferring ESD knowledge to these educational institutions. This volunteering activity overcomes the barrier of financial constraints of the institution to act for the sustainable development. Every year thousands of selfless educated volunteers are being trained up from those schools and colleges. The RCE Greater Dhaka is working with national government to expand and promote this volunteering activity through different educational programs at national level.
8. Tagging
Region: 
Asia-Pacific