The Project was financially assisted by National Green Corps (NGC) AND Environment Information System Centre (ENVIS) schemes of Government of India which targets schools, Government organizations, Academic institutions, R& D organizations, NGOs, etc. The initiatives catalysed in communicating ESD with special reference to local Issues to further foster sustainable living practices in the region to meet RCE Chandigarh’s vision ‘Small steps at local level adding to giant leaps at Global level’. The following steps were undertaken:

A) Publication of Activity Book titled ’My Carbon Foot Print Vs. Handprint’ for teachers in Punjabi

1) Field Testing of Activity Book titled ’My Carbon Foot Print Vs. Handprint’ for teachers in English (Published in 2012): The publication was field tested to evaluate the usefulness, acceptance and its performance in actual classroom conditions. 572 copies sent in the field i.e. 26 copies in each district (25 copies to best Eco-club schools in a district and one copy to each District Science Supervisor).

2) Publication of Activity Book titled ’My Carbon Foot Print Vs. Handprint’ for teachers in local/regional language-Punjabi: Publication is being brought out in vernacular language to provide teaching learning material to sensitise & facilitate action for SD within region. This activity based resource material with emphasis on “Learning by Doing”, act as a tool to help, assess & reflect on the implications of daily actions and suggesting simple ways towards carbon neutral life styles. The key elements in the publication provide an opportunity to understand & change behaviour and contribution of individual through small change in routine activities. The Activity book has the following contents:

• ESD

• Natural resources & Sustainability.

• Carbon Footprint & Handprint Principle.

• Exercises to calculate our carbon footprint & handprint w.r.t Water, Electricity, Travel, Food & Waste

3) For Pilot testing two Training Programmes undertaken:

• On 21st February, 2013 at Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration Complex, Chandigarh: 70 Master trainers participated in the event

• On 6th March, 2013, at Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, Chandigarh: ---- ------------------------------------------------participated.

B) Publication of 4 Newsletters

4 Newsletters with lead articles deliberating upon the ESD related local initiatives were published addressing the regional challenges namely Sustainable Livelihoods, General understanding about ESD, Conservation of Biodiversity Rich Areas and Conservation of energy resources. Brainstorming workshops were organized (on 21st March, 2012 and 18th December, 2012) with RCE partners to deliberate upon the issues with following aims:

• Sustainable Livelihoods-Traditional Practices & Recent Approaches: To enumerate some traditional & eco-friendly livelihood practices and to provide opportunity to people to identify & adopt such practices.

• Education for Sustainable Development: Increase the understanding of ESD, relate local ESD related initiatives and foster sustainable living practices.

• Biodiversity Rich Areas: New Identified Sites in Punjab: Information on new identified sites within the state so that special attention can be given to suchecosystems. It would help in consolidating the ongoing efforts and motivate to take positive actions at community level.

• Sustaining the Re-rolling Sector through Energy Conservation Measures and Better Operating & Firing Practices: To deliberate upon the energy conservation initiatives in the re-rolling sector within the region to benefit environment and hence a step towards SD