Encouraging youth environmental initiatives:

Bayer selects young envoys from India
• Two students will represent the country at an environmental summit in Germany
• Bayer to sponsor top environmental projects

India, September 19, 2011 – The Bayer Group in India recently announced the winners of the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy 2011 (BYEE 2011) competition from participants across the country.

As a research-based enterprise, Bayer places great emphasis on promoting science education for young people and has therefore been committed to encouraging youth environmental programs for many years. In cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bayer organizes and promotes a number of specific projects which aim to improve knowledge about the environment among young people and support them in their environmental commitment. One of these projects is the “Bayer Young Environmental Envoy Program”.

Originally initiated in 1998 as a local project in Thailand, the concept was subsequently extended to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.

One of the main objectives is to support and encourage young students who are actively involved in hands-on environmental projects.

The environmental champions from India this year – Tanvi Gadgil and Mayur Rastogi -along with 48 winners from 17 other countries will travel to Germany from October 16-21, 2011 on a week-long all-expenses-paid study tour sponsored by Bayer. On this field trip, the students will get a first-hand experience of how sustainable environmental practices are pursued jointly by the people, government and industy. The excursion entails visits to various waste management and recycling sites as well as workshops on nature monitoring and conservation.

The main criterion for judging the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy 2011 Program was active participation of the student in conducting a hands-on environmental project. Short-listed students were then interviewed to gauge their knowledge and communication skills. The two selected candidates from India have an exemplary academic record and have worked in their areas towards environmental protection.

Tanvi Gadgil is a 22 year old student from Pune. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Renewable Energy at Loughborough University, UK. Her project explores the possibility of the use of wheat straw as an abundant, low-cost, non-food feedstock for anaerobic digestion to produce energy and a useful bio-fertilizer as the by-product. The result is the completion of ‘food-fuel-fertilizer closed-loop nutrient cycle’, a step towards sustainable living.

Tanvi testing the results of her project at a lab

Tanvi has volunteered with the Akanksha Foundation, a non-profit organisation which strives for the holistic development of slum children. She has also been an active member of a local community group which takes up issues of sanitation, road conditions and conservation. Tanvi is an enthusiastic cyclist and enjoys playing her synthesizer.

Her comment on winning the BYEE 2011 award, “In the past one year, I have acquired the technical as well as socio-economic know-how about a wide range of renewable energy technologies and if need be, their integration to suit a particular environment. Having gotten this fantastic opportunity to go to Germany and learn about the interplay of industry, households and governments will help me translate my technical knowledge into practical applications to address various environmental issues in my own country. The BYEE award fits perfectly in my overall scheme of ambitions and I am extremely grateful to Bayer for selecting me!”

In response to her winning the award, her project supervisor, Prof. Andrew Wheatley said, “Tanvi has proved to be a hard-working and enthusiatic researcher with a passionate interest in improving the environment. Her experience of the influence that commercial development has had on the environment in India has promoted this interest. Tanvi has the skills, experience and understanding to make an exceptional contribution to environmental management in the future and therefore benefit from the experience and opportunities offered by the Bayer Award.”

Mayur Rastogi is a 20 year old student from New Delhi. He is currently pursuing his 3rd year at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. His project seeks to help save the environment while improving the quality of life of poor people by providing them with cheap, need customized, highly efficient and smokeless stoves (called High Performance Cooking Stoves), thereby reducing deforestation, and their exposure to indoor air pollution. He has been working on this project for the last 1.5 years under the mentorship of Prof. Subhabrata Ray, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur.

Mayur Rastogi with a model of his 'High performance cooking stove'

His project won him the prestigious Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) fellowship, started by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. He plans to further his project by tying up with the locally active social organizations to take his project to the people.

His hobbies include painting, dramatics and reading books. He hopes for a green and sustainable tomorrow. His comment on winning the BYEE 2011 award, “I feel really honoured and proud to be a part of the BYEE family. To represent India at a global forum like BYEE 2011 is like a dream come true. I thank Bayer Group of Companies in India for giving me an opportunity to put forth my views to so many environment enthusiasts. The program has further fostered my motivation to find a solution to the socio-environment problems.

As an inventor company, Bayer sets trends in research intensive areas and places great emphasis on promoting science education and youth environmental programs. As a step forward this since 2010, in order to make the BYEE program more sustainable and interesting, an additional award has been introduced globally. Prior to the main field trip to Germany, envoys are invited to submit their project details along with suggestions on what would be most helpful to make their respective projects even more successful. In the end, three ‘best-practice’ BYEE projects are selected based on key criteria such as sustainability of the project, inventiveness and project management. These projects are then offered support from Bayer in the form of materials or technological expertise.

Bayer: Science For A Better Life

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials. The company’s products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time Bayer creates value through innovation, growth and high earning power. The Group is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its role as a socially and ethically responsible corporate citizen. Economy, ecology and social responsibility are corporate policy objectives of equal rank. In fiscal 2010, Bayer employed more than 110,000 people and had sales of €35.1 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to €1.6 billion, R&D expenses to €3.1 billion. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.

For further details :

Contact :
Liza Sequeira, Tel. +91 22 2571 1091
E-Mail: liza.sequeira@bayer.com

Find more information at www.bayer.co.in


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