Gujarat Vidyapith: On the Way to Greening of the University

Abstract

Gujarat Vidyapith (GV), a university founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, has a number of campuses in Ahmadabad city and other rural areas of Gujarat. Gandhi was not an environmentalist, but the lifestyle he had lived and inspires us to live, can solve many environmental problems. Of his 11 vows, 4 relate to the environment. They are Asety (non-stealing), Apaigrah (non-possession), Bread labour (work to live) and Swadeshi. The main tenets of Gandhi-Self-reliance, Swadeshi, Decentralisation and Limiting wants-also speak of environmental sustainability. Environment plays an important role in economy, viz., source, sink and services. As a source, the environment provides energy and natural resources in economic activities. The waste of these activities is released into the environment for which it acts as a sink. There are a number of environmental services-recreational and spiritual-which increase efficiency and productivity levels of an individual. Gandhi is often quoted-the Earth has enough to satisfy everybody's needs but not anyone's greed. For the last 7-8 years, GV has been trying to tread the path prescribed by Gandhi, which is now known as sustainable development (SD). The concept of SD includes the aspects of production and consumption and GV has kept both of them in mind. This chapter is divided into three sections. The first presents the case for greening the campus. The second describes various activities of GV which encompass a number of environmental aspects. It includes environment education at various levels in graduate and postgraduate courses, the water harvesting structures that GV has made, waste management by way of research in bio-gas and composting, the use of LED and solar lights and the energy park, self-sufficiency in the case of food grains and milk, construction of an auditorium which is based on the principle of green architecture, and purchase of steam cooking system and eco-friendly coolers. It would also include environmental learning by Udyog. The third and last section tries to look critically at each effort of GV with regards to environmental perspective. It also includes the future way as envisaged by the concerned individuals to make GV campus and the mindset of people working at GV more eco-sensitive.