- Odisha Jala Joddha Samman and Ajira Bhagiratha Samman to be conferred during 4th Odisha River Conference, to be held on 21-22 March 2024 at Angul
- The first Youth4Water ‘Water & Climate Impact Awards’ will also be given away during the conference for impactful water conservation and climate resilience efforts done by youths from across the nation.
- The second batch of Green Picnic Awards will also be distributed during this conference.
- More than 100 participants from across the nation to participate in 4th Odisha River Conference to discuss River Commons Conservation Education Among Youths: building socio-economic, ecological and cultural resilience to climate change
Bhubaneswar – Water Initiatives, Odisha (WIO), the leading voice of water & climate initiatives in Odisha for more than three decades, has invited nominations from individuals and communities for the 4th batch of Odisha Water Honours. The Odisha Water Honours, the only of its kind in the state, are meant to recognise dedicated individuals and communities for their pioneering contributions in the field of water/river/ecology conservation and restoration through various actions such as conservation, awareness, education, advocacy, grassroots initiatives.
The Odisha Jala Joddha Samman is given for individual contributions while Ajira Bhagiratha Samman is conferred for commendable efforts by a community/organisation, informed Ranjan Panda, Convenor of Water Initiatives, also popularly known as Water Man of Odisha.
For the Odisha Jala Joddha Samman, applications are invited from individuals who have contributed positively towards building awareness on issues like water and water-forest-biodiversity interlinkages or have done pioneering work through their publications, individual actions or other means that have influenced policy decisions and initiated community mobilisation on these issues, said Swapnasri Sarangi of the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) that is hosting the River Conference at Angul this time.
For the Ajira Bhagiratha Samman nominations are invited from communities/groups/organisations who have been doing exemplary work in conservation of water resources, protection of natural forests that have increased the availability of water resources in the locality, or any such efforts in water conservation/management that has empowered communities assert their rights over water and impacted their lives, livelihood and local ecology positively.
Bishakha Bhanja, the Chairperson of the River Conference organizing committee said: “These honours are not only a tribute to people and communities who are endeavouring hard to work on water/ecology conservation, but also aimed at raising awareness about the dire need of such work at a point of time when water has already become a scarce resource and impacting millions of people and other species adversely.”
The nomination form for Odisha Water Honors can be found at https://bit.ly/49Z6Tci
This time the Youth4Water campaign, that was flagged off during the 3rd Odisha River Conference at Baripada and has now become a popular pan-India campaign, has launched the First Youth4Water Water & Climate Impact Awards. This award will be given to youths or youth groups who have made impactful contribution in water conservation and/or climate resilience. This award is being sponsored by the Sakshi Handloom and carries a cash prize of 10,000 rupees besides the citation. “With several innovative initiatives, the Youth4Water campaign has already made a lot of impacts in the lives and actions of youths interested in water, environment and climate change endeavours. This award is a humble attempt to support such youths in their impactful actions,’ says Anurag Gupta, State Head, Water Aid India, and a co-founder of the Youth4Water campaign.
The application form for the Youth4Water Water & Climate Awards can be found at: https://bit.ly/49HAuY7
Besides the above, the Green Picnic Awards will be given away to youth groups who have actively participated and made commendable impacts in the pan-India Plastic-Free Picnic Challenge Season 2 that was organised by Youth4Water from November 2023 to February 2024. These awards are sponsored by DALMA chain of restaurants, informed Panda.
These honors and awards will be conferred on the selected persons and communities at Angul on 21st March during the 4th Odisha River Conference to be organised by the WIO and FES in collaboration with about 40 partner organisations, Panda briefed. He requested all the media outlets to spread this message by giving ample coverage so that deserving persons/communities and youths can file their nominations.
As this conference reaches its fourth episode, it has turned into a huge collective endeavour to save the rivers and connected commons/ecosystems. About 40 organisations from local, state, national and international levels have already given their consent to collaborate in this year’s river conference and more organisations have shown their interest to join, informed Sneha Mishra, Secretary, Aaina, another co-organizer of this effort.
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