St.Teresa’s College, India

Teresian Karshakasree Challenge

The Teresian Karshakasree Challenge aims to help the youths grow into an environmentally conscious and socially responsive individuals who respects the bounty of nature and preserve them. It has helped to bring a sense of eco-awareness in students and to establish non-harmful methods of farming.

This endeavour was set forth to explore the organic and eco-friendly approaches to farming, to enable the students to get back into nature-loving ways and reinvesting back on the earth. It sought to motivate students into becoming Green Ambassadors in their respective localities by carrying on ecosystem restoration activities for the remaining two years of their undergraduate programmes.

As a part of this, students started their organic gardens during the pandemic period. The challenge was launched so as to continue this practice for the next two years. It began with the task of inviting 5 new households near them to take up this challenge and start their own organic gardens to promote ecosystem restoration. The students were given a new challenge every month. Successful candidates are then bestowed with the Teresian Karshakasree and Karshaka Deepam titles.

(Karshakasree is a Malayalam term which stands for “best farmer”.)

What the Judges Thought

An excellent project using a simple idea with big impact! Empowering women and teaching them about sustainable food growth practices covers many SDGs within a single project. The cascade model whereby learners are encouraged to engage others is a great way to create ripples of impact across the local community and we loved how it also developed non-academic, traditional skills.

The project has a huge reach - 2799 students and we loved that it was for all students rather than voluntary or part of just one course. The project was well structured with theoretical knowledge being built by online learning and mobilisation through the action focused challenges. The project could easily be replicated by other education providers. The application was well written.  

What it Means to Win

"This Green Gown Award is recognition which reinforces the message that our institution is committed to sustainability and environmentally friendly practices. It has provided us with opportunities to collaborate with other institutions, government agencies, and businesses on sustainability research. As we have initiated our centenary celebrations, for our centennial which falls in 2025, achieving the prestigious award adds immense value and enhanced visibility to our institution."

Dr. Alphonsa Vijaya Joseph, Principal

Top 3 Learnings

1. Our students were taught how to cultivate organic crops at home.
2. Our students were educated on the benefits of organically grown crops. They could experience a portion of their own hand grown vegetables.
3. The students got practical knowledge by learning something out of the prescribed syllabus.