BURD Project - The New Lines of Transmission: Children as Energy Guards

I am herewith attaching a brief of a School Energy Education Project -  the Bal Urja Rakshak Dal (BURD) Programme that we are implementing in Gujarat .
 
The Bal Urja Rakshak Dal (BURD), 'teams of child energy guards', program was initiated in 2004-05 by GEDA. The objective of the program, now in its fifth year, is to mobilize children as Urja Rakshaks, energy guardians, who will take on - the challenge to motivate responsible, rational, and restrained use of energy in their homes, schools and community by encouraging right and honest energy choices.  The program objective is to tap the children's potential as persuasive and powerful agents of change in their immediate community. The young energy guardians reach out to the community to promote best practices in energy conservation, impart knowledge about energy efficient technologies, campaign for renewable energy alternatives, and advocate ethical use of energy. They endeavor to highlight linkages between our present lifestyle: rapid industrialization, urbanization, consumerism and growing energy and resource consumption and its impact on our natural resources, climate and environment. Their credo is 'save energy, save money, save earth'. The program strives to empower Urja Rakshaks with the understanding that the power of change lies with the individual; even small, simple and seemingly insignificant change-encouraging actions, when repeated diligently with tireless consistency, grow into dominant trends that can transform our world with an amazing 'fractal power'.
 
The program, 2008-09, this year also activated 3600 schools (1800 secondary, 1800 primary), and has energized 50, 000 children, from 1800 scholls across the state, which is 8.3% of the total grant-in-aid schools in the state. The BURD action program is targeted at secondary and higher secondary school students (class 7-11); each participating school mobilizes a team of 25 Urja Rakshaks, 2 Urja Agevans, mentorteachers and an Urja Mitra, a friend from the community to support the program. The program is implemented in the field through 19 regional partners. The 8-Point Action - the participatory awareness generation activities  designed to inculcate energy skills as llife skills.   25  children and 2 teachers from each secondary school participate through competitions and awareness programs. The program has a strong vernacular base and has reached out to schools in, rural, tribal and urban Gujarat. Stress is laid on a balanced enrolment of girls and boys and maximizing geographical distribution within a regional radius.
 
This year - 2008-09 ,  the programme focuses is on 2 major action projects.  Children conducted energy audits in 9000 homes and 1800  schools and participate in the National Drawing Competition that is being oprganized by BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency.).
 
we are organized 12 intensive Teachers Training Workshops on Energy Conservation for 1800 Schools. The training  was designed to provide  understanding of  energy conservation practices  and  impart hands on activities on  conducting energy audits  in schools and homes. About 1800 Urja Agevan (School Teachers ) of the BURD Programme  from 25 districst of Gujarat were trained at Science City in Ahmedabad. The teachers intrun trained Urja Rakshaks to work on the energy audit projects in homes and schools. 
 
Thus mobilizing knowledge for sustainable development has though not brought expected results,  at a conservative estimate even if a child family saved 1 unit annually Gujarat has annually save 50,000 units of electricity thorugh the yound energy guards who were enrolled in the programme. And our mission to inculcate energy skills as life skills among the future generation has become an on going activity at GEDA. 

In 2009-10 , again we will be training 1800 teachers to work on vernacular architecture. They will be trained on how to conduet projectys with children and collage the architecture preent in an daround their vicinity. Thus they will understand the dying wisdom of sustainable building and water conservation practices that is getting lost in the urabnized world in the name of development.

GEDA is a state nodal agency established to promote and popularize renewable energy technologie san denergy conservation measures.