INTERNATIONAL PHYSICS OLYMPIAD

THE GREEN OLYMPIAD

The GREEN Olympiad is an annual written examination on environment initiated by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in 1999. The exam is conducted by Educating Youth for Sustainable Development Division of TERI and attracts participation from lakhs of school students across India and abroad. 

The United Nations has proclaimed 2011 as the �International Year of Forests�. It is a unique opportunity to increase understanding of the vital role that 'forest wealth' plays in sustaining life on Earth. Keeping in line with this international declaration, the theme for GREEN Olympiad and TERRAQUIZ 2011 was �Forest Wealth around us�.

BACKGROUND

The urgency to address the environmental concerns has probably never been greater. Nation states across the world are striving hard to come to a consensus on ways and methods to reduce their ecological footprint and move towards a low carbon economy. According to 2010 State of the World Report (published by The Worldwatch Institute), the Ecological Footprint Indicator, which compares the impact of human actions on the ecology with the natural resources available to supply key ecosystem services, shows that humanity now uses the resources and services of 1.3 Earths. In other words, people, if they continue living the way they are, would require a third more of the Earth's capacity than is available to sustain themselves.

One of the most disconcerting trends of the last two decades has been the amplification in global temperatures due to unplanned and unsustainable economic development, which has led to climate change and vulnerabilities. Climate Change is resulting in unpredictable natural occurrences and events causing unprecedented social, cultural, and economic upheaval and damage. For example, the rising sea levels in Tuvalu, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, and the Maldives threaten to inundate not only human habitats but cultures, histories, memories, and aspirations of some of the oldest human communities. On the other hand, in Africa, an estimated 10 million people have migrated or been displaced over the last two decades mainly because of environmental degradation and desertification.

In this context, it becomes imperative to find solutions to deal with the wide array of environmental challenges. There is a need for governments, civil society organizations, academic institutions, and every individual on this planet to come together to protect the only planet where life is possible.

TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) was formally established in 1974 with the very purpose of tackling and dealing with the immense and acute problems that mankind is likely to face in the years ahead on account of the gradual depletion of the earth's finite energy resources which are largely non-renewable and on account of the existing methods of their use which are polluting. Consequently, TERI has created an environment that is enabling, dynamic and inspiring for the development of solutions to global problems in the fields of energy, environment and current patterns of development.

Youth has been one of the key target groups of TERI. The Institute recognizes the importance of inculcating amongst them a sense of respect and responsibility towards the environment. This makes training and sensitizing students and teachers an important step in this direction. TERI's Educating Youth for Sustainable Development (EYSD) division, with a dedicated and experienced professional team, has been conducting outreach events on environmental issues in schools, colleges and communities for a decade. 
The programmes run by the division address key environmental themes like water, waste, biodiversity, Climate Change, energy and sustainable development. The objective is to create awareness on these issues and inspire the youth to be a part of solutions to local and global environmental challenges.

The EYSD division collaborates with a wide range of funders and partners to encourage youth action for the conservation of environment. Various ministries in the government of India, like the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports have been steadfastly supporting the division in the implementation of its projects. Besides, corporates like Tetra Pak India Pvt Ltd, Dell Computers, Hewlett Packard, Accenture and Hero Moto Corp Ltd have also come forward to encourage environment education interventions in various parts of the country. The division also works closely with organizations like the British Council and RCE-UNU, UNESCO and DESD to sensitize youth on key aspects of environmental citizenship in addition to the partner organizations such as Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, Army School Education Trust, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan etc.

The GREEN Olympiad is designed in an innovative manner to test the knowledge of students in the field of environment and in turn create awareness about issues touching their daily lives. This annual initiative reaches out to regions across India having limited access to such educational programmes. The purpose is to improve and expand environment education both at the national and international level. It aspires to develop human resources, institutional infrastructure and a diverse mixture of locale-specific, regional and national action plans to sensitize schools on the need for environmental protection.

Project objectives

·         To raise awareness amongst school students on environmental issues

·         To instil a sense of responsibility amongst students, teachers, and the larger school community towards the planet

·         To educate students about interdependence between man and the environment

·         To encourage students to actively participate in efforts to conserve the environment and help mitigate climate change

·         Realize potential of ‘students’ for national and international leadership as knowledge-based agents of change in the field of energy, environment, other natural resources and sustainable development

·         Inspire and reach out to diverse stakeholders for realizing a shared vision of global sustainable development

·         Enhance networking for sustainable interventions

The following are certain indicators that point towards the growing popularity and acceptance of this programme in the academic circle.

·         Constant support from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, since 1999

·         Repeat participation of schools

·         Regular support from corporates, such as Hero Moto Corp Limited

·         Interest shown by other organizations to start similar programmes, for example by Department of Biotechnology, Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and so on

Target group and outreach

The GREEN Olympiad is open to students from classes 8, 9, and 10 from recognized education boards and educational trusts from across India and some schools abroad. Over the years, besides India, the programme has reached out to schools in the Middle East, Nepal, Singapore, Russia and Kenya. With a modest beginning of 10 cities in 1999, this programme had reached out to 375 cities in 2007. Today, students from more than 600 cities in India and abroad participate in the Olympiad. In 2011, more than 2 35000 students had taken this examination. 

The GREEN Olympiad addresses the need for networking amongst the schools to establish a ‘Platform’ and helps the students to connect and understand what is happening in the world around them. Schools in the semi-urban and rural areas often have limited access to information on environment. To address this problem, TERI partners with regional education boards and trusts which have schools in remote areas.

Year	No. of schools	No. of students
1999	200	3000
2000	390	14 000
2001	450	16 741
2002	1102	48 206
2003	800	31 000
2004	1169	61 428
2005	1014	56 234
2006	1165	60 795
2007	1400	79 860
2008	1469	81 695
2009	1460	80 159
2010	1892	111 349
2011	2284	236 777

More on the examination

The GREEN Olympiad examination is conducted both in English and Hindi with the objective of reaching out to a large number of schools. The paper comprises of 100 multiple choice questions. Upon receiving completed registration forms from schools, each student is assigned a roll number, details of which are uploaded on the project website. Question papers are dispatched in sealed boxes to all the participating schools. As in the past, the school serves as the examination centres for its respective participating students. The GREEN Olympiad question paper consists of questions on the identified themes each year.

TERRAQUIZ

The GREEN Olympiad culminates in TERRAQUIZ every year, a 13-episode environment quiz programme for television. The top 32 schools, seven from each zone and four from the international group - are selected to take part in this national environment quiz. The questions are drawn from topics of daily concern, both local and global; attractive audiovisuals impart a unique flavour to this quiz. This quiz programme is an interesting pedagogical tool for students. Being an extremely effective medium to convey crisp messages in a short period of time, it contains an inherent element of knowledge and competition. Its unique structure questions and educates students and viewers simultaneously. Untill 2007, Doordarshan helped in making TERRAQUIZ immensely popular among the young minds across the length and breadth of the country. Since 2008, the Quiz was aired on National Geographic Channel. From 2011, the programe is being aired on the Discovery Channel.

Green Hero Ambassadors

Each year, the winners of TERRAQUIZ are declared the 'Green Hero Ambassadors'. As ambassadors, they are expected to initiate or lead environmental activities in their respective schools and surrounding areas. The Ambassadors' programme has been conceptualized with the intention of creating environmental leaders who would actively participate in conservation activities and promote environmental citizenship amongst peers, family, and society.