A Prakriti Learner’s Initiative Towards Sustainable Living

Mannan is an open event at Prakriti School that celebrates community’s efforts on developing sustainable lifestyle options. The event that concluded on Sunday, 19th February, was attended by environment enthusiasts such as BeeJom and SowGood Farms, sustainability product companies such as Earthy Grains and Edible Routes and and waste management (Goonj and Saamuhika Shakti).

Glimpses from Mannan: A Prakriti Learner’s Initiative Towards Sustainable Living

NGOs active in the sphere of educating young children, Manzil and Setu and higher educational institutions who are aligned in their purpose to build sustainable communities, The Design Village and Rishihood University also attended the event. Around a thousand visitors across Delhi NCR attended the event that included learners’ presentation on Science of Sustainability, an auction of artworks on the theme of climate change and a workshop on cooking with millets with BeeJom Farms.

Commenting about the festival, Rahul Batra, Co-founder and Director, Prakriti School said, “A festival like Mannan opens up various possibilities. For our learners, it is about exploring their enterprise ability and making a correct choice for transacting that builds a stronger community. The need for all of us to invest in building an ecosystem of education and community that stands up for sustainability is imminent as the efforts to save the planet need amplification.”

The festival emphasizes that education about ‘sustainability’ goes beyond thinking about climate change. It is about innovating with materials and gifts of nature. It is also about looking beyond capitalism and traditional form of money exchange. This year, the focus of the children was on understanding alternate models of building communities, one of which is the ‘gift economy’. Prakriti’s young learner-entrepreneurs consciously built products such as handmade natural soaps and cosmetics, millet bakes and art from waste and sold those products on a pay-as-you-like model. They also chose to contribute their proceeds to the NGOs that were present at the festival. 

Final draw was a Science exhibition where themes of sustainability were followed by the learners. Their innovations included making bio-fuels, natural cosmetic products, intelligent self-watering plants and salt-water batteries.

The product companies sold seeds, bio-enzymes, micro-greens, fresh farm produce, natural ice-cream, clothes and accessories made of jute, hemp and natural dyes.

Prakriti is a K-12 alternate school which emphasises on Socio-Emotional Learning alongside Cambridge-aligned curriculum for holistic learning. Its mission is Learning for Happiness for the community it works with- children, parents and teachers.