For this summer school nine students, (members of EWB -UK) along with ten invited participants from South Asia – two young lawyers and a student of Public administration from Bangladesh, two students of environmental science and a young working professional from Nepal along with five young professionals from India. Members of EWB UK came from Universities of Edinburgh, Bristol, London, Brunswick (Canada), to name some. A young professional from Italy too participated. A total of 20 participants (11 male and 9 female) participated in the course.

Eminent speakers discussed and deliberated on each topic with examples from the vast experience they have gained from their research and field studies. Academicians, filmmaker grassroot activist like Imran who has helped organise rag pickers to form an association, came to interact with the students. There were several lectures by CSE’s experts too.

The students saw a large number of films – Village Republic by CSE on how villages like Sukhomajri rejuvenated by managing rain water; Blood and iron by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta on unsustainable mining; Faecal Attraction produced by CSE; Counter Balance, a film produced by CHINTAN, to name a few.

The course culminated with the students documenting their travel and study. The magazine produced is the outcome of all the debate and deliberations that happened during the month. This is also an exercise through which they learn to work as a team. They choose an editor, copy editors, reporters, photographers, web designers, and print designers amongst within the class and worked to produce a magazine and web pages. This year they named the magazine ‘Thread’. Slide show Media coverage of rating and book release event at New Delhi

Yuki Noritake I’d recommend CSE to others if they are likely to be interested in the environmental studies. The class was valuable and different from those in western universities. Also, it would be a good opportunity to get cultural and academic immersion in the real context.

Yash Maniar My perception about environment development issues in India has definitely changed. Earlier, I always considered only environment as a priority, but now I understand that its linked to various other things. Development is also important. It’s about maintaining the balance between the both.

Sarah Livingstone I didn’t really have many expectations other than to have a better understanding of environmental issues in India and to learn about the global context and implications of my possible career. This was fulfilled more than I could have imagined. To the point where I have since been rethinking what exactly I want to do with my life. I was given both an Indian but also a social sciences and journalistic perspective on many issues which I hadn’t come across before. I spend the vast majority of my time, especially when discussing similar issues, with western engineers and the shift in thinking has been particularly interesting.

Rory Richardson I expected to learn a broader perspective of the environmental aspects/ challenges facing developing nations as opposed to just the challenges faced by developed countries. I think the expectations have been fulfilled as although we mainly focused on India it was still broad given the range of environments and problems in India. The content covered a good range of issues from water management to rescued sloth bears it was all there. The issues were often addressed above my expectations. This was mainly due to the speakers, who were often very experienced and certainly passionate.

Mahajabeen Hai I will recommend this course to others (in fact I already did) because this course is more like an eye-opener to a lot of problems that we deliberately ignore or rather just keep our eyes shut as if nothing is happening. And the best part, it just doesn’t show us the problems; it also gives us solutions as well.

Khimananda Sharma Most of resource persons invited were mind-blowing. The session regarding rainwater harvesting and international negotiation was more rewarding. Also working for poverty line and discussing why it is different from government's poverty line was great.

Rajasthan Patrika Aug 19, 2012