Community Awareness programme for School Children on Population and Environment
The Department of Demography, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo organized a community awareness programme on “Population and Environment” for the school children of Susamayawardhana Vidyalaya, Colombo 08. The programme was held on 05th April 2024. The community awareness programme took the form of an exhibition and knowledge sharing on population and environment by the 2nd year Demography Special Degree students following the course unit DMG 2228 – Population and Environment, under the guidance of Ms. Nethra Senadhi, Lecturer in Demography.
School children from grades 3 – 12, and teachers participated in the programme. The program focused on the theme of the interrelationship between population and environment, examining how environmental factors impact populations and how populations, in turn, affect environmental resources. This exploration was centered around nine key natural resources: forests, wetlands, coral reefs, biodiversity, ocean habitats, soil, minerals, mangroves, and air. Enhanced with creative dummies, images, and posters, the program provided essential information and visual aids to school children from grades 3 to 12, as well as their teachers. The innovative approach fostered a high level of interaction among school children, teachers, and university undergraduates. All dummies, posters and images were donated to the school for future use. The ultimate goal of the activity was to instill a sense of appreciation and responsibility for protecting environmental resources.
