On Friday, November 18 – a day before the actual World Toilet Day on November 19 – FIN hosted an online event in collaboration with the United Nations University UNU-MERIT, where I am Professor. It is always nice to wear two hats – one as FIN director and the second as an academic – and reach out to a larger audience!
Of course, the programme owed its success to the team – Abhishek Pathak, Jayashree, Akshita, Raja, and our friends especially Leopoldo, Diego, Tatenda, Nikhil, Ratna, and all our speakers!
But, we weren’t prepared for the audience to be this large or from so many different places around the globe! It was wonderful. They included all age groups – from school children – to active retired citizens.
Our audience participated enthusiastically in the quiz. They found the webiz format to be very interesting (according to their feedback) because from time to time they could participate in a quiz that kept them on their toes and then take a break to listen to an expert. This way their learning was maximized.
Our speakers were brilliant! Their speeches can be viewed by clicking on the following links:
Raja Venkataramani – on the power of policy; https://youtu.be/cz4PLT1allY
Valentin Post – on financial viability; https://youtu.be/f4LbTveLL-g
Liam McCarton – on appropriate technology; https://youtu.be/uDCshpEJwdU
Hari Sethuraman – Yes, you can do it!; https://youtu.be/Jx-OHRLDupw
Maria Tomai – on scholars’ insights; https://youtu.be/y-BdRBKYX5Y
Students from the PSBB Millennium school Gerugambakkam got a certificate if they answered our feedback form fully and correctly. We asked them also if they had any ideas to share. We particularly appreciated this answer from Sri Sashwin J B: “I have an aquarium that takes 100 liters of water every month for cleaning. As I heard about water scarcity and the need for water conservation, I collected and stored rainwater and started using it for the aquarium and my terrace garden which also consume plenty of water. So, I think I am doing my best for water conservation.” Keep it up Sashwin!