Kartikeya Vikram Sarabhai is one of the world's leading environmental educators and a dedicated community builder. He was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, in 2012.
Biography
Kartikeya Sarabhai was born into the rich and reputed Sarabhai family of Ahmedabad, is the grandson of industrialist Ambalal Sarabhai. His father, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, is widely regarded as the father of India's space programme. Both his mother, Mrinalini Sarabhai, and his sister, Mallika Sarabhai, are Bharatanatyam dancers and social activists. Sarabhai was educated at Cambridge, UK, where he acquired a Tripos in Natural Sciences. He then went on to do post graduate work in development communication at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA. He then took over as chairman of Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Ltd., a pharmaceutical company set up by his grandfather Ambalal Sarabhai, but he has taken little interest in nurturing that corporate enterprise. Instead, he has devoted his life to environmental and community issues. Sarabhai is the founder and director of the Centre for Environment Education headquartered in Ahmedabad, with 40 offices across India. He is closely involved in the activities of the Nehru Foundation for Development, of VIKSAT and of Ahmedabad's Vikram Sarabhai Community Science Centre. He is also a trustee of the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust, and of the Physical Research Laboratory. He has served on many committees set up by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Ministry of Human Resource Development of the Government of India, primarily focusing on the greening of India's formal education system, and initiatives for biodiversity education. He is a member of the Earth Charter International Council and was part of the delegations which represented India at the Earth Summit in Rio and the Earth Summit 2002 in Johannesburg. He was instrumental in initiating the South and Southeast Asian Network for Environment Education. He is currently vice chairman of the Indian National Commission for the International Union Conservation of Nature. He also led the first international conference on the in Ahmedabad in 2005, and he is a member of the UNESCO Reference Group for DESD and the International Steering Committee for the end of the Decade Conference. Mr Kartikeya Sarabhai is the co-chair of the Global Citizenship Working Group of the Learning Metrics Task Force 2.0 convened by the Centre for Universal Education at Brookings Institution to examine how global citizenship education is measured and make recommendations for new ways of assessing learning. He is the chair-holder of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development and the Human Habitat. He is the editor of the Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, published by SAGE, and has written and spoken extensively on environment, education and sustainable development related subjects in national and international fora.
Awards
Kartikeya Sarabhai received the Tree of Learning Award from the IUCN in appreciation of his contributions to the field of environmental education and communication. The Indian Institute of Human Rights has presented him with the World Human Rights Promotion Award. In 2012 he was conferred the Padma Shri award for his work in Environmental Education by the President of India. In 2013, he was given the Olive Green Crusader award by IAA for his contribution in the field of environmental education and education for sustainable development. The Science Aur Kainat Society of India honored Sarabhai with the Sir C.V. Raman Memorial Award in the field of science and technology popularization & innovation in May 2014.. Recipient of 2016 International Brandwein Medal by Brandwein Institute and the IUCN-CEC in recognition of his lifetime work for inspiring new generations, to experience, embrace and love nature first hand. Appointed as the International Wetskill Ambassador by Wetskills Foundation, Netherlands during the Finals of Wetskills-India 2017 at Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017.
