We have only one Planet Earth...
And the environmental problems she is facing are not contained within political boundaries. Plastic bag waste generated by one country is now reaching the shores of countries across the oceans damaging ecosystems and marine life on the way. Incineration of plastic waste is aggravating global warming and animals the world over are getting choked by plastic bags .
In short this is a global problem. And no single country has been able to solve it completely yet...
eCoexist is now going to lead a global effort to address this issue by working with students in various countries to study the situation in their own country and compare findings. We will be doing this through a unique programme called the Virtual Internships - which allows students to have a cross cultural experience while staying at home. We will be starting with the United Kingdom, Australia and Ghana.
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The Virtual Internships project is jointly developed by eCoexist, the Swinburne University in Melbourne and the University of Birmingham in the UK. eCoexist will be guiding and mentoring students who will work on three aspects of the problem : Research, Design and Innovation and Promotion. The intention is to understand the plastic bag problem in all its nuances, to explore alternatives and to promote the replacement of plastic bags with biodegradable alternatives.
Eventually these studies will feed into solutions for our own Indian context under the UseMeAgain campaign being run by eCoexist.
Seven students have been shortlisted for the first batch of interns that begins at the end of March. We are hoping that this global pool of young and talented minds will bring a creative and fresh perspective to the work. This is probably the first internship programme of its kind that will be held virtually.
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Katherine Maloney
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Katherine is in her second year at the University of Birmingham studying Environmental Biology and Business Management.
She been involved in several projects to do with developing sustainable practices, including animal conservation with the Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park and raising awareness of global warming with the charity Progressio in El Salvador.
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Fransisca Widjaja
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Fransisca is from Jakarta, Indonesia. She is currently studying Industrial Design at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. The design process and research is what drives her through to have the passion to become a designer. She likes to focus on designing products that will have an impact within the environment that surrounds her in the hopes that someday it could change the world that we live in. In the future, she wishes to start her own company that will one day change the world through design
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Jennifer Knowles
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In 2015 Jennifer completed my BSc in Psychology from the University of Birmingham, and continued her education there as a post-graduate student in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences. Throughout her studies, she has developed a keen interest in social justice research and a passion for improving the lives of others through collaborative working. She has extensive experience in data collection and interpretation, and aspire to apply these skills to help solve important social issues.
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Magnus Garciano
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Magnus is a student at Swinburne University of Technology, is currently working with local non-government organisations and is a fundraiser for not-for-profits at a call centre in Melbourne. After recently taking part in an internship program that helped a social enterprise in the Philippines streamline its production, Magnus is excited to be working with eCoexist in branching out his experiences and developing his skills working with social enterprise.
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Rachel Bromley
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Rachel is an undergraduate student at the University of Birmingham in her second year. She is studying Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, majoring in philosophy. Rachel got involved with the internship at ecoexist because she is passionate about protecting the environment, with a particular interest in influencing consumer behaviours and choices. When she isn’t studying, Rachel enjoys reading and going for walks.
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Nikita Kulkarni
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Nikita is going to create the robots of our future. Maybe even an Iron Man suit. She is determined, perseveres to achieve results and works hard to achieve them. She is always up for challenges and does not deter from them. Nikita is a hard worker, is enthusiastic and loves learning new things every day. She demonstrates initiative does not give up. She is a problem solver and can think outside of the box to attempt to find a solution. She would like to do her bit and attempt to help. Hopefully persuade and aid in finding solution to problems we face in the environment.
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