Climate Change Special A Science Express is to Be Flagged off Tomorrow
Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan will flag off Science Express Climate Action Special along with the Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu and the Minister for Environment, Forests & Climate Change Shri Prakash Javadekar at an event tomorrow. The Science Express is an innovative science exhibition mounted on a 16 coach AC train which has been custom-built for Department of Science & Technology (DST) by the Indian Railways (IR). This unique mobile exposition was initially launched on 30 October 2007 by DST, in collaboration with German Government and Max Planck Society and it travelled across India in 4 phases of 6-7 months duration each. In 2011, as a joint initiative of DST and then Ministry of Environment & Forests, Science Express was rolled out as Biodiversity Special which showcased the myriad Biodiversity of India and it traversed the length of breadth of India in 3 runs. During 7 successful tours spanning 1,20,000 kms across India, Science Express received overwhelming response at 391 halts, usually of 3-4 days duration each. So far, in 1404 exhibition days more than 1.33 crore (13.3 million) people, primarily students & teachers, have visited it. It has thus become the largest, longest running and most visited mobile science exhibition and created several records in its wake, including six entries in the Limca Book of Records.
Science Express is now being redesigned on the theme Climate Change. From October 2015, it is planned to run it as 'Science ExpressClimate Change Special (SECCS)'. It is a unique collaborative initiative of Department of Science & Technology and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and Ministry of Railway, Government of India.
Climate Change is the most important environmental issue, with short term as well as long term and large scale impact. From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are not just global in scope and unprecedented in scale but more severely affect poor & marginalized people. However, there is very little understanding about Climate Change and its impacts.
For Climate Change, 2015 could be a decisive year, when leaders of 190 nations gather in Paris to discuss a new global agreement on Climate Change during 21st session of Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties (CMP 11) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Thus it was rational to shift the focus of Science Express to the theme Climate Change as it will affect the biodiversity of not just India but the entire globe as well.
The state-of-the-art exhibition aboard SECCS aims to create awareness among various sections of the society, especially the students, about various issues & challenges associated with Climate Change and how it can be combated through mitigation and adaptation. SECCS will travel across India, initially for about 7 months, halting at 64 locations spread over 20 States, covering about 18,000 km. The exhibition will convey a strong message on Climate Change and will also be a good opportunity to generate dialogue and discussion.
Of the 16 coaches of SECCS, exhibition in 8 coaches will be exclusively devoted to information, case studies and material related to various aspect of Climate change, the underlying science, impacts, adaptation activities, mitigation solutions and policy approaches in a manner that is easy to understand and interesting for not just school students but also the masses. The broad theme covered in each coach is as follows:
Coach 1 Understanding Climate Change: The physical science of climate system, climate change- its causes & history- and industrial revolution & concept that all systems are connected.
Coach 2 Impact of Climate Change: Introduction to concept of ecosystem services, Climate Change impacts on selected ecosystems and sectors and also how to reduce it..
Coach 3 Adaptation-concepts: Concepts of adaptation and example form day to day life, adaptation strategies and stories from field.
Coach 4 Adaptation-Indias action: Various national, state and local level action and adaptation programmes and their links with national strategies and international actions.
Coach 5 Mitigation-concepts: Concept and definition with examples from everyday life, emphasis on restoring balance, enhancing sinks (carbon stores) and reducing emission through renewable energy (RE) technologies.
Coach 6 Mitigation- Indias action: Various national, state and local level action and adaptation programme implemented by India and how those are linked with national strategies and international actions. Low carbon strategies, ambitious goal to increase RE.
Coach 7 International negotiation on Climate Change: Introduction to UNFCCC, IPCC and internationally agreed action & targets. Explaining concept of equity and common but differential responsibility, Polluter pays, Kyoto protocol and other key outcomes of major COP, etc. Introduction to Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC).
Coach 8 Handprint: What can one do at school, on roads, at home and in offices and focus on concept of lifestyle choices?
The rest of the rake will have exhibits on themes like Wildlife and Nature Conservation work being carried out by different research institutions across India with focus on Tigers, Turtles, Coral Reefs, Amphibians, etc. besides development in field of Biotechnology, Innovations in S&T, Science Education, Schemes of DST, Careers in S&T, and so on. While a Kids Zone has been created in a coach to indulge young ones them in fun-filled activities, games and puzzles in science, mathematics and environment, the popular Joy of Science (JOS) Hands-on Lab is once again put up in another coach where students are encouraged to perform experiments & activities to understand concepts in environment, science and mathematics in an interesting manner. A Discussion centre-cum-training facility is also provided in a coach for orientation of teachers.
At each halt of SECCS, activities are planned in advance to engage visitors across different age groups to reinforce various messages that the train conveys. An exciting and much sought-after Outreach Programme will also be conducted in local schools/institutions along with interesting activities on the railway platforms where it is parked. In addition, informative & appealing take-away material is made available for wider distribution amongst schools and other visitors.
