Mangaluru, Mar 25: 'Science Express - Climate Action Special (SECAS) train, an Innovative exhibition on wheels aimed at spreading awareness about the effects of climate change and making the science behind it easier to understand, has reached Mangaluru Central Station.
The train is a unique collaborative initiative of Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), and Ministry of Railway.
Of the 16 coaches of SECAS, exhibition in eight coaches, which has been developed by Centre for Environment Education (CEE) on behalf of MoEFCC, is exclusively devoted to information, case studies and material related to various aspect of Climate change, the underlying science, impacts, adaptation activities, mitigation solutions and policy approaches in a manner that is easy to understand and interesting for not just school students but also the masses.
Nearly 50 volunteers, selected by Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre, Ahmedabad, explain to visitors, mainly students, in detail the climate change action and what it means to humans and the planet. The volunteers said that Science Express intends to contribute towards increasing understanding of the science of climate change, the observed and anticipated impacts and different possible responses.
The previous three phases/runs of ''Science Express'' were rolled out as a joint initiative of DST and MoEFCC as Biodiversity Special and showcased the myriad 'Biodiversity of India'.
The Science Express will visit only two places in Karnataka. After Mangaluru, where it will be stationed till March 28, its next halt in state will be at Hospet between April 4 and 5. Prior to this, it will viist Ashokapuram, Coimbatore from March 30 to April 2.
Amalendu Maji from Howrah- science communicator on board the Science Express says, Kolkata is diverse, but I had a real glimpse of diversity of India by travelling in the Science Express. I love nature and bio-diversity, and trying different cuisines and this train has helped me discover all these and also the unexplored places in India.
The Science Express has been travelling across India successfully for the past seven years. Flagged off on October 30, 2007 by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the exhibition train has since then covered over 1.22 lakh km across the country, receiving more than 1.33 crore visitors at its 391 halts in 1,404 days. Science Express has thus become the largest, the longest running and the most visited mobile science exhibition in India and has created six Limca Book of Records in its journey so far.
From 2007 to 2011 the train travelled as 'Science Express' displaying the world of micro and macro cosmos, spreading the awareness about strengths of science in meeting global challenges, including latest discoveries and innovations in the field of modern science.
After four successful phases, Science Express was redesigned on the theme Biodiversity and from 2012-2014, and it then travelled as Science Express Biodiversity Special (SEBS).
SECAS will travel across the country for about seven months, halting at 64 locations in 20 States, covering about 19,800 km.
The broad theme covered in each exhibition coach is as follows: Coach 1: Understanding Climate Change; Coach 2: Impact of Climate Change; Coach 3, 4: Adaptation - Concepts of adaptation and examples from day to day life; Coach 5, 6: Mitigation - Concept and definition with examples, emphasis on restoring balance, enhancing sinks and reducing emission through Renewable Energy (RE) technologies; Coach 7: International Negotiations on Climate Change; Coach 8: Handprint - What can one do at school, on roads, at home and in offices and focus on concept of lifestyle choices with the key message 'Increase your Handprint. Decrease your Footprint'; Coach 9, 10: Exhibition put up by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) covering themes like Biotechnology for bio-resources and nature conservation with emphasis on Tiger Conservation and Chemical Ecology and India's research and development initiatives in field of Biotechnology; Coach 11: Exhibition put up by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) showcasing select innovations, demonstrating the ingenuity of common people and an innovative project which uses augmented reality techniques.
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