How will the 1.1 billion people living in India today cope with climate change? As resources dwindle and weather patterns become more erratic, the country’s rural majority will dive deeper into poverty due to global climate disruption if action is not taken to alleviate the risk. Through rain water harvesting and accessible career training, local forward-thinking institutions are transforming communities to be better prepared for environmental hardships ahead.

A reporter from National Geographic wrote this article about one community that, after decades of suffering from the chokehold of poverty, has become an “incredible example of how rainwater harvesting can create prosperity.” Government environmental regeneration programs have helped villagers install rainwater storage systems,  and this investment in sustainable development is proving highly effective.

"Kamla Devi was Rajasthan's first woman to graduate from Barefoot college as a solar engineer." Photo credit: The Guardian

Elsewhere in India, Barefoot College is training rural women to become green entrepreneurs in an effort to help the country grow in a way that is environmentally responsible. Barefoot College’s low cost, decentralized and community driven approach capitalizes on the potential already present in villages by training the women in skills including solar engineering, healthcare and water testing. Check out this article about one of the College’s success stories,  a 19-year-old, semi-literate woman from a small village who “has broken through India’s rigid caste system to become the country’s first Dalit [“untouchable”] solar engineer.”

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