A Team of 7 members from Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) (ATREE) visited Naropa Fellowship Campus to conduct their course on ’Sustainable Development & Conservation’.
ATREE is a research institution based in Bangalore, India, with a mission to generate rigorous inter-disciplinary knowledge for achieving environmental conservation and sustainable development in a socially just manner.
The 5-day course which followed a learning by doing approach, had class room lectures in the beginning followed by independent group projects in the field. The lectures included introduction to concept of ecosystem services in the Himalayan region and how to map the ecosystem services with GIS Tools. A broad overview of climate change and its impact, particularly in the Himalayan region was also covered during the classroom sessions. For a hands-on experience on data collection and compilation using mobile platforms like ODK, field trips to Lamayuru Village and Sakti Village were facilitated. The final day of the course saw Fellows present their learnings to the ATREE team and the rest of the class.
The second phase of the ATREE session will be conducted next summer, wherein Fellows will be awarded a certificate of completion in ‘Sustainable Development and Conservation of the Himalayas’ by ATREE.
