UNESCO Projects

A UNESCO Chair was created at Janapada Sampada in 1995, with Professor B.N. Saraswati as chairholder, to promote an integrated system of research, training, information and documentation activities in the field of cultural development; and to serve as an instrument for facilitating collaboration between high level, internationally recognized researches and the research team of the Centre, and other institutions in the Asian Region. The research activities of the Chair since 1995 have been as follows:

The Cultural Dimension of Education and Ecology. Four field studies were carried out on the trends and problems of primary education, and on the natural environment. An International Conference was held in October 1995. Six reports (books) published.

The Use of Cultural Heritage as a Tool for Development. Field studies were carried out among the indigenous weavers of Varanasi (India) and Sri Lanka. A conference was held in Colombo in December 1997. Report published in 1998.

VILLAGE INDIA  :  

Identification and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage: An Integral Necessity in the Management of Development. It aims at identifying the tangible and intangible heritage in all the 25 States and 7 Union Terriotires of India, in about 100 villages. A workshop was organized in November 1998 to discuss the objectives of the project, the unity of study, selection procedure, method of collection of data, and time frame. Two pilot studies, one in Kerala in south India, and another in UP in north India, have been received. Two comprehensive studies of West Bengal and Haryana. Fieldwork in Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar, U.P., Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Goa progressing. Work in Maharashtra, M.P., North East India has been launched in July 1999.

Projects

YEAR	NO.	PROJECT
1995-96	1.	Rural context of education in Maharashtra (Under Unesco Chair), (Indian Institute of Education, Pune)
	2.	Experiments in education at the Sarojini Vidya Kendra (Under Unesco Chair) : by Shiva Shankar Dube and Ram Lakhan Maurya
	3.	Biosphered environment in the central Himalayas (Under Unesco Chair) : by Ramakar Pant and Rakesh Khanduri
	4.	Warli peasants and Dhangar pastoralists of Maharashtra (Under Unesco Chair) : by Ajay Dandekar
	5.	Biosphered environment of Santhal Pargana (Under Unesco Chair) : by Arun Kumar
1997-98	6.	The Use of Cultural Heritage as a Tool for Development (Under UNESCO Chair), by Ramakar Pant and Kailash Kumar Mishra
	7.	Village India : Identification and Enhancement of India’s Cultural Heritage An Internal Necessity in the Management of Development 1999