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VOLUNTEERING FOR THE PLANET
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Are you living in a city and have you wondered how you can make a difference? Does the urban living environment overwhelm you and make you feel like running away sometimes? Do you have time to spare and would you like to be part of an environmental team activity in some small way?
As the corporate global economy grows larger and larger in its power and control over human societies, many individuals are now opting for other models of work - looking for a more meaningful engagement that doesn't necessarily involve cash exchange - but creates opportunities for growth and learning for all parties involved.
eCoexist has valued this model of teamwork since its inception and our core group currently consists of several professionals from four countries who are offerring their talent, energy, time and money towards the vision of eCoexist.
We have also welcomed several volunteers over the last 13 years - students, interns, homemakers and professionals. This newsletter introduces you to our current set of volunteers ...we will also share with you the range of ways in which you can participate in our work.
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STUDENTS ABROAD : VIRTUAL INTERNS
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In 2017 eCoexist designed the Virtual Internship programme along with the University of Birmingham in the UK and the Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia. Students who would like to intern with eCoexist but cannot travel to India, have an opportunity through this programme to work on a project with us remotely. The programme runs for a period of ten to twelve weeks and can offer opportunities to students from social sciences, environment and design faculties. We can also take management students. Currently we have two students working with us from University of Birmingham, focussing on improving our web presence.
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My name is Meghan or Meg. I am a BA English student studying at the University of Birmingham. In my spare time, I have created two blogs and a website, and I enjoy creative writing. I also write the newsletters and some blog posts for my college at the university. I am very excited to be working with eCoexist as I think that helping and protecting the environment is extremely important, which is precisely what eCoexist is doing.
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'I’m Charlotte and I’m studying Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences. I’m really interested in encouraging people to become more sustainably-minded and environmentally friendly in our daily lives and want people to become aware that it’s not always difficult to make sustainable choices. At University I help to run the Environmental Society, and am involved in a number of charity and awareness events around climate change, so EcoExist is really interesting to be involved in!'
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Local students in Pune who would like to work with us can do so on a project basis, on a continuing engagement or as part of their studies and formal internships. Projects are designed according to the level of time commitment you can offer- the entry criteria is fairly strict but once you are accepted we invest a lot of time in your training and development. We do not offer financial remunerations however we can issue a certificate of participation at the end of your engagement.
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Akshay Paygude has a B.Sc. (Computer Science) and is just graduating with M.Sc. (Environmental Science). He decided to take Environmental Science subject for masters after realising negative impacts of human activities on the environment. He is currently focused on filling gaps in use of computer tools like statistical softwares and GIS by Environmental Science Students.
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He has been doing air pollution studies from IITM, Pune and did a dissertation on Deposition of TSP on Plants in Road Environment of Pune City and focused on use of plants in inducing deposition of pollutant. At eCoexist, he has worked on the data analysis of the recent survey we completed on the effectiveness of the ban on single use plastic.
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'I am Divyanshu Pawar. I am currently studying BSc Geology in Nowrosjee Wadia College. I believe in making my own opportunities and use them to change the current situation of the world. Environment has always fascinated me in many ways and I have been concerned about it and started volunteering young. I believe in learning new things and giving back to the society at the same time whenever needed.'
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Divyanshu spent two months with us at eCoexist - he studied alternatives to single use plastic items and also made several presentations on the subject to educate the public.
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Lavina Belani : is an Economics Graduate from Symbiosis College Pune. A passionate Nature land animal lover she makes an effort to do all she can to protect and preserve the environment. Lavina is currently helping eCoexist track the ban on single use disposable plastics in Maharashtra.
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Mankit Arya is a student of Bachelors of Business Administration at the Symbiosis College in Pune. He is very keen on Indian history and politics and works toward social change. He plays the flute and loves to explore Indian temples. Mankit volunteered to raise awareness about the Eco Ganesh Campaign run by eCoexist.
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Over the years we have been fortunate to receive voluntary help from a range of professionals who have mentored us and also worked on our projects hands on.
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Marie-Gon is a well-known interior designer from the Netherlands. For the past 2 years she is happily living with her husband Jasper in Pune and travels between India and Europe / US to work on different projects.
She has a lot of experience in both residential and B2B projects, trade shows, hotels and restaurants, and Holiday-parks to restyle old-fashioned bungalows
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She has authored and published four books on Interior Design and she gives lectures and trainings about color and interior in US, China and Europe. In India she is also helping women in rural areas to adjust the design of their products, to make it more suitable for the European (export) market. Currently at eCoexist, Marie is exploring designs for sustainability - looking at materials and products along with the team.
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Sonya Sachdeva is based in Chicago, USA and is a computational social scientist. She has a PhD in Cognitive Psychology and has taught at the NorthWestern University, teaching Environmental Policy and Culture. Sonya current works with the US Forest Service doing social science research.
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She recently competed a project to study data collected from social media to predict the movement of the fires in California. At eCoexist, Sonya has been leading the data analysis of the Plastic Ban Survey and is working on writing a research paper on the topic.
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Rupali Shah is based in Mumbai and has been the CFO of a second generation business manufacturing processing equipments until 2016. She currently teaches at the NMIMS Institute in Mumbai and volunteers with NGO Rasta Chaap to look at possibilities of urban farming. She has also joined the Holkars to promote Rehwa weaving traditions.
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Rupali is using her financial skills to study how money can be used to promote sustainable living. She believes that a resource saved is a resource earned for the planet and that humans are merely trustees of all the natural resources available to us. She has been implementing waste seggregation processes in societies in Juhu, Mumbai and at eCoexist, she is helping to create markets for sustainable products.
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