Management college organises ‘Sustainable Expedition’ resolves to increase biodiversity on campus

Students and faculty of the Goa Institute of Management (GIM) recently organised a Sustainable Expedition, an educational walk through the Institute's 50-acre campus at Sanquelim, in order to spread awareness about the various sustainable initiatives undertaken on the campus related to energy, water, waste and biodiversity. GIM has always been conscious about the impact of its decisions on the ecosystem around it and has continuously strived to reduce its carbon footprints. Along with measures like rainwater harvesting, solar-powered street lamps, treatment of water for reuse, tree plantation drives and more, the institute has expressed its commitment to this philosophy also through its mission statement which talks about sustainable business and inclusive society for India and the world.

The GIM campus has also gained global recognition for the several path breaking sustainability measures taken by the Institute, in collaboration with the students, to meet the UN sustainable development goals.

“Initially, we focused on documenting the existing biodiversity on the campus with the help of Goa State Biodiversity Board and other local experts in the field. This year we plan to focus on developing awareness and creating a plan to not just manage, but increase the biodiversity on the campus,” says Arpita Amarnani, Chair, Centre for Excellence in Sustainable Development (CESD), associate professor at GIM.

According to GIM Director Prof. Ajit Parulekar, higher education institutes can play a significant role in the green transformation of all human activity and contribute towards achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

“Over the last couple of years, we have taken initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint significantly, and installing solar roof-top panels is one of them. We are very proud that over the last year, we have generated more than one million units of power using renewable energy, which accounts for around 40 percent of our consumption,” he said.

On World Environment Day on June 5, the Institute also organized an interactive session on environment, focused on reptiles, particularly snakes, through an awareness-cum-demonstration by Charan Desai, a wildlife rescuer who sensitized the attendees about snakes. He also advised about precautionary measures which need to be taken in order to avoid encountering snakes and suggested measures to be adopted in the event of a snakebite.

The snake show was specially organized this year, in order to wean students and faculty from their fear of the reptile species, apart from creating awareness about the importance of snakes to a habitat and the environment.

A team of ten Forest Department officials headed by Range Forest Officer Sangam Desai also interacted with the students and shared tips on sustainability, while later disbursing saplings to the faculty and staff.