Centre for Environment Education (CEE)
Centre for Environment Education Ahmedabad was established as a Centre of Excellence under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India, working in the field of Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development. CEE is registered as a Society under Societies Registration Act 1860 vide registration No. GUJ/1043/Ahmedabad having its registered Office at Thaltej Tekra Ahmedabad. As a national institution, CEE’s mandate is to promote environmental awareness nationwide. CEE develops innovative programmes and educational material and builds capacity in the field of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). It is committed to ensure that Environmental Education (EE) leads to action for sustainable development. It undertakes field projects that demonstrate and validate the role education can play in sustainable development.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Professional association
- Industry Type:
- Environmental Management
- Market Focus:
- Nationally (across the country)
- Year Founded:
- 1984
About Us
Partnerships for Sustainability
CEE works with local, state, national and international agencies, organisations and governments in India and in various other countries to help create a sustainable future. CEE works closely with Forest Departments and others in creating interpretation programmes and facilities. With an extensive network of over 2 Lakh schools it undertakes many school programmes in partnership with different agencies.
With partners including State Governments, Foundations and Corporates through CSR funding, CEE has undertaken projects in rural and urban development, waste management, biodiversity conservation, quality improvement in school education, marine conservation and others.
Working with the government, CEE has made significant contributions to international negotiations in the area of ESD. CEE has played a Nodal role in India for several UN programmes such as UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD – with UNESCO); Global Environmental Facility – Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP – with UNDP); Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Programmes (with UNICEF); and many others.
CEE is the Regional Coordinator for several regional initiatives like South Asia Youth Environment Network (SAYEN), and has worked with most countries in South and South East Asia on ESD.
Mission
Vision
To be an institution of excellence that, in partnership with others, plays a significant role in local, national and global efforts towards sustainable development through innovations, and being at the cutting edge of Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development.
Mission
To achieve the vision CEE’s mission is to enhance understanding of sustainable development in formal, non-formal and informal education through its work with schools, higher educational institutions, policy makers and reaching out to youth and the general community. It is to integrate education as a key driver for change in demonstrating and advancing sustainable practices in rural and urban communities, and in business and the public sector, and in meeting challenges of global issues such as climate change and biodiversity conservation. CEE also promotes individual and collective positive Handprint actions that are environmentally sound, economically viable and socially beneficial.
CEE and the SDGs
CEE was the nodal agency in India for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) from 2005 to 2015. The first conference of the DESD was held at CEE in January 2005 which resulted into Ahmedabad Declaration. In this there was a reaffirmation that “We firmly believe that a key to sustainable development is the empowerment of all people, according to the principles of equity and social justice, and that a key to such empowerment is action-oriented education.” Post 2012, leading up to the process of finalisation of SDGs, CEE played a critical role. It was given the responsibility of collecting view from all the Ministries in Delhi and connecting this to our principle negotiators at the UN. After the SDGs were finalised, CEE held two international conferences, one in January 2016 to highlight the role of education could play in order to achieve the SDGs and in September 2016 a conference was held to look specifically at Goal 4 which deals with education and within that target 4.7 to promote ESD, global citizenship, culture and peace.
Today several programmes of CEE integrate SDGs into their work. SDG Handprint Lab, a local area study and sustainability action pedagogy for Higher Education Institutions is a pioneering programme by CEE that provides a unique learning environment to youth to work towards the SDGs. The programme involves understanding of the SDGs and relating it to issues of a local area and using their skills and knowledge to conduct research and executing handprint activities.
Strategies
Centre for Environment Education is a national institution engaged in strengthening environmental education and training initiatives by developing pioneering programs that promote environmentally ethical behaviour. Since its inception, the Centre’s activities and programmes have been rooted in, and guided by, certain strategies for maximization of quality, effectiveness and impact.
Maximize the scope of EE with state-of-the-art thinking, developments, innovations and perspectives in the areas of Environment and Sustainable Development
- Focus on capacity-building activities in programs and projects
- Develop programmes that are adaptable to different geographic, cultural, social and economic contexts
- Partnering with a view to utilizing the complementary strengths of other organizations, so as to avoid duplication of effort, and to network effectively towards the synergistic convergence of ideas and goals
- Develop programmes and materials to build on the existing strategic opportunities and facilities for EE
- Encouraging and supporting other agencies in the field of EE and ESD to develop similar materials and programmes based on their specific needs and situations.
- Build synergies between the Government, NGOs and CEE for comprehensive impact.
- Identify the key entry points for different thrust areas, and key targets for initiating and consolidating gains, to achieve a multiplier effect.
- Facilitate information networks at local, national and regional levels, through a number of tools such as dialogues, directories, newsletters, etc.
- Conduct workshops/ seminars to facilitate dialogue between various stakeholders, including the government and the society, on the environmental implications of growth and development
Strengths
CEE is an organisation that draws its strengths from a committed, highly skilled team of professionals from diverse academic backgrounds who work together on the enormous challenge of developing environmental awareness and promoting environment and sustainability education on a range of developmental issues and for a variety of target groups.
With nearly 300 staff members across India working on 16 major programmatic thrust areas, CEE is a unique example of an institution that is dedicated to building capacity in order to address the sustainable development concerns of India and other developing countries.
CEE works in all the states in India, with more than 30 offices across the country.