Best Practice I : VASUNDHARA VAMSI

Vasundhara Vamsi – The 'Vasundhara Vamsi' Green Campus Initiative, an ongoing campaign within our institution, is primarily dedicated to advancing sustainability, mitigating our environmental footprint, and nurturing a culture of environmental stewardship across our college campus. At its core, this initiative embodies the motto 'S4 Sankara Soil,' which stands for Succour, Sustain, Support, and Safeguard Sankara soil. Our overarching goals encompass integrating sustainability into the academic curriculum, promoting collaboration among diverse campus stakeholders, developing sustainable infrastructure, catalyzing research and innovation in sustainability, heightening awareness about environmental issues, and consistently enhancing our sustainability practices.

Inception of the 'Vasundhara Vamsi' Green Campus Initiative was a response to the pressing environmental challenges that our institution, like many others, faced. Fueled by the realization that higher education institutions bear a significant responsibility to instill environmental consciousness in students and contribute positively to both the local community and the environment, our campaign was born. Under the banner of 'S4 Sankara Soil,' we set out to rejuvenate our campus ecosystem, not only for the current generation but also for posterity.

The Green campus initiative of our institution is the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal adopted by the United Nations to address a wide range of social, economic, and environmental challenges. This holistic perspective ensures an improvement in the quality of living for humans as well as the planet. The Mahatma Gandhi University also carries the momentum adopted by the United Nations. As a part of the implementation of the programme on academic level from 2017 onwards the University revised its curriculum for both UG and PG students by introducing topics like environment, ecology, diaspora, human rights etc. At this moment the institution also decided to make this novel initiative as our hallmark to establish our footprints in environmental conservation by internalizing the concept of ‘nurturing nature’

Best Practice II : SANSKRITI
Sanskriti, The objectives of ‘Sanskriti’ ‘Nurturing and Rejuvenating the local wisdom’ are to preserve, promote, and propagate the significance of local history. The organization aims to achieve this by documenting and safeguarding the socio- political, environmental, economic, cultural, and ethnographic diversity of the local region. Its underlying principles include collecting and archiving historical materials, fostering research and scholarship on local history, raising awareness through educational programs, utilizing digital platforms for preservation and promotion, collaborating with institutions and communities, engaging the public through exhibitions and events, and ensuring the protection and accessibility of historical artifacts. The organization strives to safeguard the unique heritage and cultural identity of the locality for present and future generations.

The contextual features and challenging issues that needed to be addressed in designing and implementing the activities of 'Sanskriti: Sree Sankara Pradeshika Paithruka Padana Sanketham' were multifaceted. In the face of rapid urbanization and modernization, local history often gets neglected, leading to a loss of cultural identity. The lack of dedicated resources and platforms for preserving and promoting local heritage posed a significant challenge. Additionally, limited awareness among the community about the importance of their own history needed to be addressed. The initiative needed to overcome time constraints and a lack of proper financial support to ensure the sustained implementation of various preservation and awareness activities. Recognizing these challenges, 'Sanskriti' aimed to establish itself as a hub for local history studies, engaging the community and collaborating with diverse stakeholders to ensure the protection and appreciation of the region's unique heritage.