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Community Newsletter: International Sustainability: "

Recently, members of the WiserEarth community released the July/August edition of the Community Newsletter , collecting stories from Brazil, France, and India. Check out the issue here. Read on to hear an Indian perspective on WiserEarth by community member Jay Pattnaik!

Guest post by Jay Pattnaik [link to wikipage]

I would like to introduce myself to the WiserEarth community. I am an engineer of computer science from ITER, Orissa, India (class of 1999). I founded Maaway Trust, a nonprofit organization for education, health and the environment, and co- founded and assisted my father with two other organizations: Maaway Technology and JAPRC (P) Ltd. Maaway Trust and Maaway Technology were registered between 2008 and 2009. The name “Maaway” is a tribute to my grandma and her encouragement. Finally, thanks to the WE community for giving me an opportunity to write something about my experience as a new member of WiserEarth.

My WiserEarth community membership has given me a kind of freedom, where I can share my vision and thoughts. It was a unique experience when I first laid my eyes on WiserEarth while I was searching for sustainable solutions on Google. At the time, I was assisting my friend with her report on environmental impact assessment and planning. WiserEarth is an inclusive project which aims to unite people of similar thoughts. I am writing this article to discuss certain things which I would love to share with the WiserEarth community.

I have always shied away from social networking sites. I don’t know why I was so repulsed. But I found WiserEarth more interesting thanks to its innovations, its ideas and because of the good friends I have now found.

The use of this platform has helped me to enhance knowledge-sharing and supported me in developing social connections with interesting groups of people. Getting straight to the point, it’s a common interface which has enabled me to share my thoughts with a worldwide sustainability audience.

I have now connected with thirty very good friends: good friends because their portfolio inspires me to work more on sustainability initiatives for society, and the environment.

As a member, I have found the following on WiserEarth:

Wiser Relationships

WiserEarth enables you to express yourself among experts and non-experts in the sustainability field. Moreover, as you interact with people on WiserEarth, you get to know them. People with similar interests can build trust in one another, which eventually leads to more meaningful relationships.

Wiser Environment for Mind Sharing

While interacting with people on WiserEarth, you get a unique perspective into their lives and their problems regarding sustainability. You can help advise them, and in turn, you will receive advice and trust from other members, resulting in mind sharing.

Wiser Network that educates you

While WiserEarth can enhance informal learning on environment and society, it also supports social connections within groups of learners and with those involved in the support of learning. The WiserEarth platform can broadly be used by members of an organization, for sharing their activities, and inviting other members to make an action plan. Thus this network is helping all of us develop communities for good practice.

Bringing Visibility to International Projects

WiserEarth showcases many international projects which hail from my hometown of Orissa, India. For example, there are many initiatives in undeveloped regions of Orissa. A few distinguished fellow academic researchers from Florida have initiated a bio-diesel project for bringing electricity to villages with no power. There are many other examples of eco-village project initiatives by OREDA, rural health projects by NRHM and wildlife management planning by WWF-India. In India, we are very much encouraged by such projects, for which we have great hopes. Building visibility for these projects is important though.

To sum up, it’s been a wonderful experience to be a part of the amazing “WE” community. I share (as many others in the community do) in the need for a noble plan for our very dear planet Earth, its environment and its society. In our evolution from a Primate to a Homo Sapien, we became guardians of the most awesome creation called “Earth”. I believe that building a community for a wiser development of our earth and future sustainability is an achievement WE must work on together.

Notes: OREDA – Orissa Renewable Energy Development Agency, Govt. of Orissa Undertaking Agency

NRHM – National Rural Health Mission, Dept of Health and Family Welfare Govt. Of India

Photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

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