Sustainability in 21st Century Role of NGO's in Sustainable Development Corporate - NGO Partnership for Sustainable Development NGO - Tarun Bharat Sangh Water Man of India

1. SUSTAINABILITY IN
21st
CENTURY
Gaurav Wadhwa & Priya Bhargava
BBA, Year III
Ansal University, Gurgaon

2. Sustainability
• Sustainability could be defined as an ability or capacity of something to
be maintained or to sustain itself. It’s about taking what we need to live
now, without jeopardizing the potential for people in the future to meet
their needs.
• Sustainable Development: “Development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs.”

3. Common Sustainable Development
practices
-Solar and wind energy
-Sustainable construction
-Water fixtures
-Rain water harvesting
-Sustainable consumption and
production practices etc.
Three Pillars of Sustainability –
Triple Bottom Line
-People
-Planet
-Profit
Advantage Sustainable Development
-Involves local people and provides
them with rewarding, immediate work,
income, and education
-Preserves the natural sources
-Protects the environment
-Provide basic needs
-Accommodate city development
-Control climate change
-Provide financial stability
-Sustain biodiversity
-Improving triple bottom line
-Preserves technological resources

4. PLANET

5. Natural Resources
• Natural resources - land, water,
biodiversity and genetic resources,
biomass resources, forests, livestock and
fisheries
• Foundation of human survival, progress
and prosperity
• Their erosion is one of the root causes of
the crisis
• Along with the Government of India,
Corporate houses there are several
NGOs who are dedicated towards the
cause of Natural Resource Management.

6. Problems in 21st
Century
• Acceleration of economic & population growth
• Extreme poverty
• Climate change
• Over-exploitation of natural resources by growing population
• Destruction of vegetation
• Unmindful agricultural intensification
• Over-use of marginal lands
• Imbalanced use of fertilizers
• Deteriorating soil health
• Misuse and inefficient use of irrigation water
• Depleting aquifers

7. • Salination of fertile lands & water logging
• Deforestation
• Biodiversity loss & genetic erosion
• Land degradation
• Denudation
• Soil erosion
• Landslides
• Floods, drought
• Unbalanced ecosystems
Consequences

8. There is a need for greater attention
to the management of water, forests
and land in order to mitigate pressure
on natural resources

9. Role of NGOs
• They can also contribute significantly by undertaking
research and publication on environment and
development related issues.
• It is necessary to support and encourage genuine,
small, local level NGOs in different parts of the
country which can provide much needed institutional
support specific to the local needs.
• The importance of public awareness and NGOs
involvement in environmental protection is
acknowledged worldwide.

10. Role of NGOs
• NGO’s have been taking a number of steps to promote
discussion and debate about environmental issues, outside the
broad spheres of popular media and the educational system.
• Advocacy and awareness is especially crucial in promoting
concepts such as sustainable development, natural resource
conservation and the restoration of ecosystems.
• NGOs can sensitize policy makers about the local needs and
priorities.
• They can often intimate the policy makers about the interests of
both the poor and the ecosystem as a whole.
• In providing training facilities NGOs can play a significant role.

11. NGOs can act as a Critical
Interface between Business
Houses and the Societal Concerns
NGOs can be the Implementation
Agencies for the companies which
do not have time / resources to
contribute towards the society

12. Corporate Inc. - NGO Collaboration
• Business Houses can rely for the
implementation of their CSR initiatives on
NGOs
• The Connect of the NGOs with the grassroots
would help the Companies
• 21st
Century would see an increase in the
number of such collaborations and synergies
between the corporates and the NGOs
– The Companies Act 2013 would act as an enabler
for the same

13. Existing Collaborations
• Coke – MANTHAN
• Microsoft – Smile Foundation
• NTPC – CANKIDS… KIDSCAN
• Birla Group – Smile Foundation, Maya
Foundation, Childline India Foundation

14. NGOs in NRM
• Many innovative practices have been adopted
by the NGOs in the area of Natural Resources
Management for the purpose of conservation.
• Some of these NGOs are-
– PRADAN
– Dorabji Tata Trusts
– Sadguru
– Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan
– Dharampur Utthan Vahini (DHRUVA)
– Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS)
– Aga Khan Rural Support Programme

15. Best Practices in
Sustainability

16. Rajendra Singh –
Water Conservationist

17. Dark Zone to Flow
• Rivulet Arvari: Making stream alive by constructing a small Johad in a
village Bhaota.
• Later seeing the advantage of Johad, many villagers came forward to build
such structures in their own areas. And to this date, there are 375 RWH
structures in the catchment area of the river Arvari.
• Water in RWH structures raised the water table in the entire catchment
area of the river. This in turn, enriched the forest in the same area.
• This way, in a decade, the river Arvari came to life from a dried up dead
water-course. Today, the river-flow continues the year round.

18. Struggle Against Mining
• An ecological imbalance was setting in, with faster degradation of
the area under mining operations.
• A public interest petition was filed by TBS in the Supreme Court of
India. In 1991, the court issued an order against continuing mining
in the ecologically fragile Aravalis.

19. National Water Awareness Campaign
• Judicious use and regeneration of water resources for enhancing
water quality and quantity in all parts of India.
• To increase awareness about water as a basic right of each citizen
• To meet & bring together activists who are working on water issues in
isolated pockets of India.
• To form a pressure group for making state and national water policies
more people-oriented and responsive.

20. Tarun Jal Vidyapeeth
TJV has till now facilitated following activities:
• Two-year course for “Water Warriors”.
• Short term capacity building course for all stakeholders in water
management
• Organizing State & National level workshops
• Publications of exemplary work and issues on water management.

21. Way Forward
• Enhance the existing collaborations with the
NGOs by the corporate
– Leverage the expertise and grassroots connect of
the NGOs to Create and Implement Scalable and
Replicable projects in Natural Resource
Management
– A more serious financial and resource commitment
by the businesses to the NGOs
– Meticulous planning and structured efforts towards
Sustainability
– Monitoring by way of Impact Assessment & CSR
Audit

22. These will lead towards
SUSTAINABILITY IN 21st
CENTURY