“SamVednaa -an initiative towards building Model Green Colleges”, is being undertaken by the South Asia Youth Environment Network (SAYEN), as part of the Asia Pacific Forum on Environment and Development (APFED ), supported by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in three colleges of Gujarat .

SamVednaa focuses on involving students on issues of immediate concerns. During Orientation Workshops the colleges identified the major issues such as- energy conservation, water conservation, waste management and managing green spaces as their concerns within their own college and neighbourhood community. The emphasis would be towards behavioural changes and actions at individual and collective levels, which could lead to reducing impacts of climate change, a major concern globally. Also, students would be exposed to SD based alternate livelihood options, encouraging them to undertake these as entrepreneurial activities. These institutions would also demonstrate models of sustainability for other colleges and the neighbourhood community. SAYEN has signed an MOU with Department of Higher Education, Government of Gujarat for identification of colleges in Gujarat for undertaking SamVednaa . The resource agency involved in the project is TERI.

Colleges involved

• Gujarat Arts & Science College , Ahmedabad
  Gujarat College is one of the oldest and first colleges in Gujarat . It has a campus of about 30 acres area situated in heart of the city, Ahmedabad. Being founded in 1825, the college has colonial architecture and was most active during the freedom struggle More...

• Government Science College , Valod, Tapi
  Government Science College situated in tribal areas of Gujarat is the only college in South Gujarat that offers courses related to electronics and computer science. The area of the campus is around 10 acres. In the present era, where mostly we hear about water crisis, this college is blessed with water table at 15-20 feet below the ground level More...

• Mahadev Desai Gramsev Mahavidyalay, Dept of Microbiology, Sadra, Gandhinagar
  Mahadev Desai Gramsev Mahavidyalay, Dept. of Microbiology is a college situated in rural areas of Gujarat . The area of the campus is around 1.2 acres and it consists of very old buildings constructed in 1891. There is Biogas Research Centre in the campus which was set up in 1993. Also, there is a biogas plant, composting pit and vermin composting present within the campus More...

Methodology
Within each college a youth core group in the form of college “Eco-club” will be formed. This club would comprise of 30-50 students and 1-2 professors. The club would undertake activities on issues of immediate concerns such as energy, water, waste and biodiversity. The activities aim at bringing attitudinal change and setting up any one efficient system in the college. From each college, four student leaders and one-two project in-charge were involved in a Two-day Inception Workshop during which they could understand the project process and the activities that can be undertaken in their respective colleges.