Thiruvananthapuram: In a novel initiative to step up public awareness and community participation in the scientific and sustainable waste management campaign ‘Malinya Muktha Nava Keralam’, a Massive Open Online Course has been launched covering the entire range of the solid waste management programme started across the state about a year back.
This free course, being conducted through the e-courses portal of Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), is open to all who are interested in knowing more about and contributing to the campaign including voluntary workers, youth, students, professionals, members of community outfits, non-government organizations and resident associations.
On completion of the course, certificates will be given to the participants. The course content offers a thorough understanding about the unique features of the scientific, sustainable and inclusive waste management activities being undertaken at the local body level. It also provides information on safety measures for those involved in waste processing activities and about the penal provisions against rule breachers. The course has 22 sessions in all, with each one session of 30 minutes duration.
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Preliminary discussions are also on to make this course a part of the graduate programme in colleges across the state. Participants can register for the course by logging onto KILA’s e-courses portal https://ecourses.kila.ac.inand then enrolling in it by registering for the Massive Open Online Course (MOCC). One can enrol for any of the course options by accessing the course list, selecting the intended course among the courses available in the ‘Courses’ option.The content consists of videos of 15 to 30 minutes duration and quiz-mode questions and answers.
Since these are recorded sessions, the participants can attend the course at their convenience. The course also covers all waste management activities like collection, segregation, processing and recycling of solid waste at each local body level. The role of the Haritha Karma Sena and various state agencies concerned are also featured.
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The course will help intensify public awareness about waste management issues and activities with the participants passing on to their family members and friends, the salient features and targets of the campaign and the qualitative change it is set to bring about in the local community.
The upshot of the course is that it will help bring home the message that securing the targets of the campaign largely depends on the support from the people, who, in turn, are its ultimate beneficiaries. The course covers basic topics like ‘waste management— crises and solutions’, ‘the present scenario at a glance’, ‘time line of the Malinya Muktham Nava Keralam campaign’, ‘handling of household organic waste’, ‘aerobin composting’, ‘biogas plant’, ‘organic waste container’, ‘pit compost’, ‘organic compost machine’, ‘portable bio-bin composting’, ‘organic compost machine’, ‘ring composting’, ‘non-organic waste’, ‘segregation and processing’, ‘sanitary waste’, ‘slaughter waste’ and ‘banned and one-time-use materials