The Generation for Climate ActioN (GenCAN) is a Leadership Challenge for schools initiated by HCL Foundation and CEE. This is a sustainability and climate change education initiative to engage schools with their teachers and students to communicate, collaborate and cooperate in learning about climate change to develop their own action plan for reducing carbon footprint.
Climate change is one of the most serious global challenges which requires urgent attention. It is critical to develop new skills, values and attitudes that lead to more sustainable and climate-resilient societies. Education plays an important role as the driver for change in building these.
The GenCAN initiative is strategically in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, particularly focusing on SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). By fostering climate change education, initiative is directly contributing to the urgent global efforts highlighted in SDG 13 to combat climate change and its impacts.
Aligned with global frameworks like The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Paris Agreement, the associated Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) and UNESCO’s Greening Education Partnership. The GenCAN initiative ensures that climate change education efforts not only educate and empower locally but also contribute to global collaboration in addressing climate challenges.
Foundation of the GenCAN programme is based on the National Education Policy 2020, emphasizing role of education as key to addressing climate change.It supports aims of Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment),a programme announced by the Prime Minister of India, that intends to encourage to take small actions like reducing plastic use, managing wet waste, conserving energy, etc in daily lives to significantly contribute to climate change.
Global temperatures continue to rise and extreme weather events become more frequent and severe, today's youth are particularly impacted by challenges posed by climate change. To confront these challenges, HCL Foundation and Centre for Environment Education (CEE) have collaborated on a national level initiative Climate Action Leadership Challenge tailored for schools, targeting grades 6-12. This initiative empowers educators and students alike with tools and techniques to foster climate literacy and action.
Schools preparing young citizens are ideal for ensuring that students have the critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and leadership skills needed to promote climate action. Keeping this in mind, an exciting climate action leadership challenge for schools has been designed. The GenCAN is an annual programme where schools are invited to engage a team of students and teachers who further involve the entire school in becoming a climate friendly school.
To join , REGISTER for the Climate Action Leadership Challenge. For more information, kindly refer to the BROCHURE
