Move for Earth is a movement to address and offer solutions to community-specific issues related to water, soil, energy, and clean air that directly impact citizens’ livelihood and health.
Through cycle yatras / bicycle rides, this movement will facilitate purposeful events and activities, engage key stakeholders, and advance urgent climate action.
Vision
To unite and amplify the collective voices of Climate Champions, equip communities with key tools, resources, new-age / next-gen(?) skills, and create a networked ecosystem for people to be the ambassadors of change.
Mission
Move for Earth focuses on training and equipping citizens to adopt sustainable practices and catalyze behaviour change to build a smarter future. By engaging with farmers, interacting with communities, and inspiring the youth through well-planned and highly relevant workshops and training sessions. These short and impactful sessions will be an indispensable learning opportunity for communities to learn skills and build a climate-resilient future.
This cycle yatra will engage:
Farmers
Youth
Government
Financiers
Technologists
CSOs
In each state, the Move for Earth cycle rides will conclude with a Citizens Jury for Earth in which small groups of farmers and youth will interact with experts and get involved in the process of making recommendations on how to address environmental issues, thereby leveraging the values of democratic decision-making as we move towards our collective future.
Origins
In the year 2008, Vinay Jaju – Co-founder of SwitchON Foundation – and the founding team, set out on a ride from Kolkata to New Delhi on their bicycles to witness India’s energy scenario in the backdrop of the nation’s mammoth dependence on fossil fuels, despite having a large renewable energy potential. The ride inspired and sparked the impetus for a fifteen-year journey of serving and strengthening communities, emphasizing sustainability, just transitions, clean energy, and climate-smart agriculture programming. Today, in the face of high dependence on fossil fuels, over-consumption, and an increasingly devastating climate crisis, SwitchON Foundation is returning to its roots by undertaking similar cycle rides to celebrate and inspire climate action.
To commemorate its 15th year, SwitchON Foundation launched Move for Earth, a bicycle ride that began across the rural belts of West Bengal and Odisha. But, at its heart, Move for Earth is an initiative to help build a smarter and brighter future for ourselves, our children, and life on Earth.