Effective Stakeholder Dialogue

Stakeholder Dialogue Week One – Summary

Question 1 - What role can education play in the sustainability of the Ganges? And how can this be implemented?

• Education can help create awareness about the dangers of extinction of animals, effect of pollution on human and animal life, as well as plants and forestry.
• Facilitate highly effective studies and development to create sustainable power generation plants, that are also cost effective and solutions to sustain animal life.
• Help improve the lives of the Dalit’s and as such allow safer cremation practices. It will also allow minimizing the dumping of animal remains in the river.
• Understanding of the effects of dumping chemicals directly into the river.
• Highlight the importance of keeping the river clean to sustain the river.
• Religious leaders need to be educated, so they can use their influence to pass on the message
• Governments (India & Bangladesh) need to educate themselves on cost effective solutions
• Small industry (eg farmers) need to understand what their practices are doing to the river and how this will affect them in the long run
• The Indian & Bangladesh governments need to start working together and out differences aside
• Education is important and people need to understand the consequences
• Government need to be educated look at other nations greater exposure to international techniques
• Provide basic education (not just sustainability)
• Leading from top – down
• Simple ways to get message across
• Need to focus on younger generation – impressionable
• Educate/ inform other nations
• Survival vs. sustainability
• Long term approach
• Education vs. century old practices

Implementation:
• Media
• Art & theatre
• Schools and education centres
• Religious involvement to encourage sustainable practices
• Non political organisations
• Political pressure (internally and externally)
• Other countries can get involved to educate the Indian people
• Bollywood... [continues]

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