Turning Local Stories into Climate Action with 86 Students

At Shree Mahendra Bhrikuti School, we saw how a workshop can turn into a powerful story of its own. While 45 students in total engaged with our materials, we sat down for a deep-dive session with 20 students from Grades 6 and 7. In Lalitpur, where the hills meet the city, these children see the effects of landslides and floods firsthand. We wanted to help them turn those local worries into a vision for a greener future.

From Landslides to Green Hills

We started by talking about what the students see every day. About 65% of the students quickly connected climate change to the things they’ve witnessed—like landslides blocking village paths or rivers rising after heavy rain. By using local stories, the "global climate crisis" stopped being a textbook problem and became a conversation about their own homes.

We noticed a huge gap in the beginning: only 40% of the class knew about renewable energy like solar or wind power. But after our group games and discussions, that number jumped to 77%. It shows that when you make science relatable and fun, children soak up the information like a sponge.

Art as a Map for the Future

When it was time to get creative, the classroom transformed. The children didn't just draw; they "reimagined" their world. They drew clear rivers and hillsides covered in thick forests. They moved away from seeing their community as a place of disasters and started seeing it as a place of resilience. By the end of the day, their quiz scores had improved by 38%, proving that they left the room much stronger and more aware than when they walked in.

Activity-Based Learning at Shree Mahendra Bhrikuti

We made sure that most of our time was spent on the things that matter—talking and creating.

• The Story Begins (15 mins): Connecting global climate goals to the landslides and floods they see in Lalitpur.

• Closing the Gaps (25 mins): Using interactive flashcards to turn a 40% understanding of clean energy into 77%.

• The Creative Journey (40 mins): A long, quiet session for sketching and storytelling. This is where the real "visioning" happened.

• Final Reflection (10 mins): Checking in on our progress and celebrating the 38% growth in learning.

What we learned: The energy at Mahendra Bhrikuti was special because the students were so ready to debate and share. We learned that storytelling is the fastest bridge to awareness. When a child tells a story about a landslide they saw, and then learns how to prevent it, that knowledge stays with them forever.