Social Impact Lab Workshops: An Enlightenment On Climate.
BRAC University Social Impact Lab recently arranged a few workshops focusing on leadership, career pathways, laws, challenges, and prospects related to climate. The aim of the workshop lineup was to foster climate enlightenment and prepare the next generation of climate leaders, especially by creating an ambassador team of BRAC University for the BRAC University Climate Conference 2024. These events took place at the lecture theatre hall of BRAC University.
On June 25th, a workshop titled “Climate Conservation and Career Pathways” featured Hasibul Hasan Ahmed, head of the climate wing of the Social Impact Lab, Srijan Banik, coordinator of the Social Impact Lab, and Shahadat Hossain Shakil, environment and climate change specialist of USAID Bangladesh. Shahadat Hossain Shakil explained the educational and skill requirements for building a career in the environment sector and engaged the audience with multiple case studies for interactive analysis and discussion.
On June 26th, the workshop “Public Access to Environmental Justice: Challenges and Prospects” was held. The speaker was Fahim Abrar Abid, an LLM candidate at the University of Glasgow with an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, and a research assistant at the Center of Environmental Law & Policy of the University of Colombo. He discussed various environmental laws of Bangladesh, including Article 18A (environmental protection law), and highlighted the country’s environmental protection rank of 177th out of 180 due to air and water pollution
Later the same day, another workshop on “Climate Leadership” was conducted. The speakers were Dharitri Kumar Sarkar, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, and Srijan Banik. This workshop aimed to raise awareness among university students about the severe implications of climate change and the catastrophic consequences. Dharitri Kumar Sarkar emphasized that government efforts alone are insufficient to mitigate the effects of climate change, stating, “It is not possible for the government alone to mitigate the effects of climate change.” He stressed the importance of individual and community initiatives in responding to natural disasters. Srijan Banik added an insightful part on climate leadership with the message, “Change Minds, Change the Rules, Change the Game.”
This entire arrangement was part of an OSUN grant under the OSUN Climate Justice Week 2024, spearheaded by student leader Hasibul Hasan Ahmed.
