Going PLACES (Participatory Learning And Creative Education in Sustainability):

Our Trip to India, Summer 2004

Trip Participants: Students: Michael Whitaker, Mark Pitterle,

Faculty: Dr. Anu RamaswamiProfessional Engineer: Tim Olsen

Who are we?

• A group of CU Denver students, faculty, and professional engineers who will develop, innovate, and implement a sustainable energy system for a tribal village in the valley of the river Narmada in India.

• This work is being done in close partnership with the villagers, NGOs, Indian universities, students, and faculty.

Our Group Photo

Trip Goals• Establish working relationships with partners• Learn about tribal village culture and daily

lifestyle• Discover self-identified needs of the villagers• Engage in participatory planning• Establish availability of local materials• Lean about locally available appropriate

technologies• Establish local environmental constraints • Gather site assessment data

– Anemometer setup, indoor air quality data, and site mapping

Working with Indian Partners: A Privilege To Know Them

• Grass-roots NGOs, fully committed to living with and working for the people

• Dedicated to upholding Gandhian principles– Non-violence, simple living, compassion, moral rearmament for

self knowledge and peaceful activism, secularism– High degree of environmental consciousness and activism on

social justice and equity issues

• Practically innovative– R&D focuses on real identified needs with local materials

• Skilled in facilitating community participation and involvement

Participatory Planning Meeting

Swati (seated) and Ishwar (foreground)

Another Community Meeting

(L to R): Michael, Mark, Tim, Anu in foreground

Impressions of the Villagers

• Passionately democratic• Women and men participated in community

decision making• Incredibly knowledgeable about available

technologies• Addressed practicality in all decision-making• Achieved complete consensus• Every voice and point of view was heard

– “Barober” – OK I see your point of view as valid• Incredibly sharp• Savvy with money, but not used in internal

transactions

Living with the Forest

Tribal Home Construction

Tilling the Field

View of Farmlands and Watershed Management

Anu in distance walking on a bund

Grain Storage

Grain Grinding

Measuring indoor air quality near teak wood stoves

Want to Celebrate?!Liquor Anyone?!

Close up of the distillery

Would you leave this beautiful land?

To live here?

The power of the river in the monsoon: bridge washout

Trishul Crossing: The inaccessible village

Would you cross this?

Harnessing the power of the river sustainably: Bilgaon Micro-hydel

Micro-hydel Turbine

Hugh Piggott’s homemade windmill

Testing completed windmill

Mark training in windmill construction

Michael and Jayanti installing the anemometer

Ajay’s biogas plant

Solar collectors/cookers

PRINCE, 2004

TERI’s Research Center

Briquetting with waste materials

ARTI – Forming Partnerships

Dr. Karve, founder of ARTI, discusses the briquette cook stove

Overall impressions of renewable energy policy in India

• Government is actively analyzing renewable energy technologies for country-wide development– Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources (MNES)

• Government playing a crucial role in renewable energy development– Subsidies and infrastructure development common

• Government struggling with implementation due to corruption and sheer magnitude of the population

Overall impressions of India• Hands-on practical approaches to solve the nation’s

problems– A very close connection between industry, research, and the

university system• A very strong sense of brotherhood and unity• NGOs and activists working closely with communities• All this despite having great diversity in languages,

cultures, and religions between sub-regions– There are over 15 official languages and numerous dialects in

India• Poverty is not as predominant as one would think

– People are happy with their lives….always smiling– People predominantly have food, clothing, and sheltar

• What is lacking is infrastructure, particularly electricity grid, water/wastewater treatment, and waste/pollution management

• Amazing markets: a true free market experience

Animals rule the streets

City traffic crossing: A near death experience

The mighty, mighty Ganga

Gangotri trek to the Himalayas

Cultural exchange: frisbee in the villages…

Religious DiversityHindu, Buddhist, and Jain caves at Ellora

Eating food at the Dhaba (road side restaurant)

Thanks to Michael and Ajay!!!Our hosts and advisors on appropriate technology in India

MichaelAjay

Our Invaluable Partners: AID and PRINCE• AID - Association for India’s Development

Mission: – Learning humility, purity and simple living from those who don’t

take too much from the earth– Targeting the problems of hunger, disease and oppression that

sadden their lives– Inspiring in each other, trust, confidence and support for one and

another• PRINCE – Promoters & Researchers In Non Conventional

EnergyMission:– To focus on facilitating all sustainable technologies, specializing in

solar energy, biogas, vermicomposting, tree planting and energy conservation.

– To design, manufacture, and test sustainable technologies.– To make these technologies affordable and accessible to people of

all economic levels.– To provide free training, consultation, and education to all social

organizations for the use of non-conventional energy