As the city prepares to host nearly 10,000 delegates from 192 countries for the international bio-diversity Conference of Parties (CoP-11) in the month of October, a massive exercise to train and orient volunteers for the event is on.
Every Sunday, spread over five different venues, students drawn from different colleges have been undergoing extensive instruction by master trainers in various aspects like basics of foreign languages to gaining exposure to policies on bio-diversity of the participating nations.
At the training venues that include the offices of A.P. Pollution Control Board (APPCB) and National Green Corps (NGC) apart from Indira Priyadarshini auditorium, services of specialists have also been roped in to provide insights in soft skills, stress management and public speaking.
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“Our trainers are helping the selected students brush up their English and prepare them for the event,” says Sruthi, master trainer at the PCB office complex. Teams are also participating in mock UN sessions with each student representing a country.
The student-volunteers have been provided with a detailed backgrounder about the nation they represent and the inputs include different policies including foreign policy and status of bio-diversity there. Another lively factor of the orientation training has been the students practising a flash mob dance with messages on the event agenda. In batches of 40 each, they spent part of the day dancing and generating messages on the issue to the choreography of Puneet Reddy of Indian Youth Climate Network.
“We have been practising for the last six weeks and it is turning out to be a memorable experience. My city is hosting the biggest ever event in these parts and as young citizens, we are trying to contribute our best,” says T.K.S. Sarath, a student of Srinidhi College of Engineering.
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At the mock UN proceedings, Narjes of Shadan Degree College is representing Bahrain and she says, “For us, this whole exercise has opened new understanding about different countries and the global approach towards the issue of bio-diversity”.
Students from different colleges ranging from medicine, engineering to agriculture has been drafted to create the volunteer community for the COP-11 under an initiative called ‘Prakrithi Mitra’.