“I can”: Recognition at the Kohima School – ING

Kohima (India). Little Flower Secondary School of Kohima, Nagaland, of the FMA of the Indian Province of Guwahati (ING), obtained national recognition for the implementation of the “I can” Project and was chosen among the 100 best 2019 change stories for the global platform Design for Change.

In 2019, the School introduced the “I can” project among its activities, with the aim of promoting the concept of environmental sustainability. The Project, continued in the following years, made the students more aware of the environmental crisis and of the need to implement processes of change starting from their own reality.

To raise awareness of environmental problems, the students gave visibility to their commitment in the territory of Kohima, carrying out various community works such as cleaning public areas and historic places and animating the population with street performances with the slogan ‘Clean environment’. These gestures attracted the attention of the media and the recognition of the school for its educational commitment.

In addition, the School contributed to freeing the school campus and the Kohima locality from plastic  (Plastic Free Zone), underlining the urgency for the population of the Nagaland State to commit to a clean environment.

In the letter addressed to  Little Flower School, the Founder and President of the non-profit organization Design for Change (DFC), Kiran Bir Sethi, congratulated the students and teachers for “being the change“. DFC awarded five certificates for participating students, two for teachers/tutors, and a trophy for the School, which was subsequently named as one of the 100 most inspiring change stories in the Design for Change (DFC) I CAN School Challenge in 2019.

The formula of the I Can Project – Design for Change (DFC) consists of 4 simple steps: Feel (Sense / identify problems) – Imagine (Imagine new solutions) – Do (Act and build change) – Share (Share your story of change to contagion and inspire others), which lead students to empathically understand situations, imagine and implement solutions to help change the environmental reality.

“Humanity still has the ability to work together to build our common home. Young people demand change from us. They ask themselves how it is possible to claim to build a better future without thinking about the environmental crisis and the suffering of the excluded”.

(Pope Francis – Laudato sì 13)