Image credit: Project Team
Pop Culture for Environmental Awareness is a joint project between Oorvani Foundation and St Joseph’s University (SJU) to enable young Bengalureans to learn about the city’s environment and sustainability issues.
This programme on ‘environmental storytelling’ is to be offered to students of St Joseph’s University, Bangalore. The programme will explore pressing environmental issues in the city with the students creatively reinterpreting and communicating the issues in fresh formats such as memes, songs, cartoons, short skits presented as reels, threads, and engaging vox pops in English, Kannada and other local languages with editorial guidance. By transforming complex topics into relatable, entertaining content, these young ‘influencers’ can effectively disseminate crucial information to a broader audience.
By Oorvani Foundation & St Joseph’s University.
Project Start Date : October 2024
Contact details:
foundation@oorvani.in
- Instagram: @opencity.in @citizenmatters
Twitter: @citizenmatters, @opencity_in - LinkedIn:
Status Report & Updates
As part of this initiative, Bengaluru Environment Unplugged—a one-credit guided internship—was designed for students of Journalism, Optional English, International Relations, and Public Policy. Experts and practitioners from diverse fields, including waste management, water, and urban planning, guided students through critical environmental issues affecting Bengaluru.
Key sessions included:
- Journey of Waste – Highlighted the importance of waste segregation, challenges in recycling, and the role of waste pickers in creating a sustainable economy.
- Water in Bengaluru – Explored the city’s water sources, lake networks, sewage treatment, rainwater harvesting, and causes of urban flooding.
- Transport and Mobility – Examined how Bengaluru’s commuting patterns shape city planning and environmental impact.
- Pop Culture X Social Impact – Focused on storytelling techniques, research methods, and the power of content creation in driving environmental awareness.
The sessions have enabled students to use various storytelling formats—memes, cartoons, graphics, and videos—to create Instagram content on Bengaluru’s environmental challenges. Check out their work at @blr.env.
