Science Express Climate Action Special (SECAS) was flagged off on 15 October 2015 from Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Hon’ble Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Sciences; Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Hon’ble Minister of Railways; Shri Prakash Javadekar, Hon’ble Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Shri Y. S. Chowdary, Hon’ble Minister of State for Science & Technology and Shri Manoj Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of State for Railways in presence of several other dignitaries and guests.
· SECAS is an innovative mobile science exhibition mounted on a 16 coach AC train which has been custom-built for Department of Science & Technology (DST) by Indian Railway.
· The state-of-the-art exhibition aboard the 'Science Express Climate Action Special (SECAS)' aims to create awareness among various sections of society, especially students, as to how Climate Change can be combated through mitigation and adaptation.
· The SECAS in its current phase is scheduled to travel across the country for about seven months, halting at 64 locations in 20 States, covering 19,800 km.
Of the 16 coaches of SECAS, exhibition in 8 coaches developed by Centre for Environment Education (CEE) on behalf of MoEFCC, GoI 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.
The broad theme covered in each exhibition coach is as follows:
•Coach 1: Understanding Climate Change - Insights in the climate as a system, the greenhouse gas effect and the underlying reasons for climate change with key message that the current change in the climate is due to human activities.
•Coach 2: Impact of Climate Change - How temperature rise, monsoon variations, sea level rise are predicted to affect vital sectors like water, agriculture, forests and biodiversity, and human health and ways to reduce these.
•Coach 3 & 4: Adaptation - Concepts of adaptation and examples from day to day life, adaptation strategies and stories from field. Adaptation options in urban and rural contexts and the adaptation actions India is taking.
•Coach 5 & 6: Mitigation - Concept and definition with examples, emphasis on restoring balance, enhancing sinks and reducing emission through Renewable Energy (RE) technologies. Various programmes implemented by India and low carbon strategies and ambitious goal to increase RE footprint.
•Coach 7: International Negotiations on Climate Change - Introduction to UNFCCC, IPCC and internationally agreed action & targets. Explaining concept of equity and common but differential responsibility, Kyoto protocol & other key outcomes of major COP, etc.
•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), Govt of India, 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. Exhibition on themes like Innovations in S&T, Science Education, DST Scholarships & Schemes, Careers in S&T, etc.
Science Express Climate Action Special Train dated 6th to 8th dec 2015 held in delhi at pragati maiden railway station. All the Delhi Nine ENVIS centres taken part in this exhibition and showcase their activities related to Climate change .
