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About Us
Youth Conservation Action Network (YouCAN) is a non-profit initiative that envisions an Earth Educator in every school and learning space in India: young people with an enterprising spirit to challenge the status quo and reimagine nature and conservation education in schools. We foresee 10,000 educators in every State by India's 100th year of independence.YouCAN is an initiative of the Trust for Environmental Education.
We are committed to being on this path, taking one step at a time, by implementing the Earth Educators Fellowship, providing access to locally relevant learning resources that are within reach of affluent communities and not marginalised ones, and providing mentorship to young people's education ideas to make them system changing and sustainable. This vision is impossible to realize without the support of hundreds of people who believe in a greener environment. Let us make our efforts revive the wellness of our planet and its people.
The Crisis
More than
1 million species
are at risk of extinction by climate change.
There has been an average 68% drop in global population sizes of amphibians, birds, fish mammals and reptiles between
1970 and 2016.
We are losing
80,000 acres of tropical rainforests daily.
800 million people across the world are currently vulnerable to climate change impacts such as droughts, floods, heat waves, sea level rise and extreme weather events.
Our Vision
A world where every student gets sufficient opportunities to connect with nature locally and practice climate action during their K-12 years.
Our Mission
To find, train and nurture an Earth Educator for every school in India.
Our Approach
Program delivery, community organising, and narrative change.
Promote the efforts of our community partners.
Give with whatever we have - vocational support, money, resources, connections.
Focus on local impact.
Remain non-partisan.
Our Values
KINDNESS
Being generous, accepting and considerate
AGILITY
Being able to understand and respond quickly
EQUITY
Being fair and impartial towards gender, caste, race, faith, language and orientation.
TRANSPARENCY
Being open and accountable.
INTEGRITY
Being honest and having strong moral principles.
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The Earth Education Fellows from the inaugural cohort with some of our supporters and Board members of the Trust for Environmental Education, Shekar Dattatri and Naveen Mahesh.
YouCAN's Founding Story
Rachita Sinha and Ramnath Chandrasekhar got married in an idyllic village in July 2018. Their unconventional life experiences brought them together as partners and motivated them to dream of the world as it can be. They chose to make a difference to people and the Planet that is larger than themselves.
Rachita was born and raised in a rural town in Jharkhand in the East of India. Ramnath was born and raised in a rural town in Tamil Nadu in the South of India. Rachita’s affection towards nature was encouraged by wildlife in her backyard. His – the same too – wildlife in his backyard.
Rachita was motivated to make a difference in society because of watching the sufferings of coal mining workers whom she observed for 15 years on her way to school. Ramnath was motivated to make a difference in society because of the rampant destruction of nature he witnessed during his early assignments.
They pursued different vocations. Rachita as an engineer and learning designer. Ramnath as a professional nature photographer and educator. For seven years before their wedding, Ramnath and Rachita connected to work on a common goal of creating a greener generation.
When they got together, Rachita and Ramnath decided to spend the rest of their lives by being torchbearers for the planet’s health by inspiring, and enabling a new generation of educators who develop wonder among students towards the Planet's health, explore climate change, and bring back natural environment in and around schools.
They can be reached at ram[at]youcan.in and rachita[at]youcan.in