Anooja Anil (she/her/they/them)

How are you using education to build more sustainable and equitable communities? Tell us about your EE work and impact. 

I use environmental education to help people move from feeling disconnected about environmental challenges to feeling empowered to act. My work combines youth-led climate action, nature connection, storytelling, place-based learning, and socio-emotional learning to make environmental education locally relevant and accessible.

As a climate educator with the Centre for Environment Education, I implement the year-long Generation for Climate ActioN (GenCAN) programme across 50 public schools in Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya, and Sikkim. I mentor student leaders, support teachers, and help young people identify local environmental challenges and design collective solutions. To date, the programme has engaged more than 320 students and 55 teachers, contributing to reductions of approximately 7,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Through my nature-education initiative, Namma Iyarkai, I use creative approaches including storytelling, art, and nature journaling, to reconnect urban children with their local environments. A pilot with 50 Grade 5 students found that 80% improved their nature literacy.

Beyond schools, I build community through Chennai WildUrb Club and networks connecting educators, institutions, NGOs, and young naturalists. Overall, my efforts across these various organisations aim to strengthen community resilience and cultivate a lasting culture of environmental stewardship.

Tell us about your journey to where you are today. What inspired you? What has your path been like? 

Growing up in Chennai, India, a coastal city shaped by flooding, extreme heat, water scarcity, and rapid urbanisation, I became aware of environmental problems early in life. But awareness often came with a sense of helplessness, since the scale of these challenges felt far beyond what one person could change.

That changed when I began volunteering in environmental education. Working directly with children and communities showed me that education creates connections, which eventually lead to agency and hope. I discovered that meaningful action often begins with helping people recognise that they belong to the places they are trying to protect.

This experience shaped my path into environmental education. I began working with young naturalists and environmental organisations in Chennai, building programmes and networks that connected young people with nature and one another. I later joined the Centre for Environment Education, where I now support youth-led climate action across schools in India.

Alongside this work, I founded Namma Iyarkai and co-founded Chennai WildUrb Club to explore more creative, place-based approaches to nature education.

How can people learn more about or support your work? 

People can learn more about my journey and environmental education work through my LinkedIn and Instagram pages about the wider work of the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) (https://www.ceeindia.org/). You can also follow Namma Iyarkai and Chennai WildUrb Club to see our nature-education activities, youth engagement, and community initiatives in Chennai.

I would love to collaborate with environment educators, ecologists, scientists and field experts and have them converse with my students. I would like to access opportunities for my students, schools, and colleges in the field of environment, climate action, and sustainability. Schools, educators, community organisations, and environmental groups interested in environmental education, youth climate action, nature connection, or socio-emotional learning are welcome to reach out to explore workshops, resources, or collaborations.

A Little More About Me

What advice would you give to the next generation of leaders?
Find and create a community, and collectively do something, albeit small, for our environment.

What is the wildest or most surprising environmental/nature fun-fact you know?
Did you know that Wandering Gliders are the longest-migrating insects? They cross the oceans, across 18,000 km intergenerationally every year!

Describe your work in a haiku.

"Hoping for a brighter future"
Holding tiny hands, and
Painting our tomorrow, all
Fingers green and yellow