Wrapped in her school jacket against the mountain chill, Nikita Sharma stood with an easy confidence. A student at Government Senior Secondary School in Narag, Sirmaur, she spoke about something most would overlook. In the hills of Himachal Pradesh, she explained, the Chir Pine is not just a tree but a source of living knowledge – its needles once woven into simple food baskets for carrying lunch to school.
For UNESCO, the visit was meant to be routine: an assessment of Eco Clubs under Mission LiFE, alongside a quiz taken by more than 8,000 students to gauge awareness of environmental issues. But conversations like this quickly shifted the lens. What emerged was not a gap in knowledge, but a different way of seeing – where students, drawing on local knowledge, understood both problems and solutions in ways that formal education often misses.
“In the past, Chir Pine lunch boxes were a sustainable way to carry food,” Nikita said. “Today, plastic has replaced them – even as we are learning how harmful microplastics can be, not just for the environment, but for our own bodies.”
A few hours away in Mandi, the pattern repeated itself. Another student, echoing Nikita’s clarity, spoke of a different reality – one shaped by a growing cycle of disasters that have struck Himachal Pradesh with increasing intensity. Landslides, flash floods and erratic weather have left deep marks on everyday life, but they have also, unexpectedly, brought communities closer.
“Disasters have directly affected us,” the student said, “but they are also bringing people together – not just to talk about climate change, but to act.” What begins in the Eco Clubs for Mission LiFE, she explained, does not stay in the classroom. Students carry these conversations home, where families and communities are starting to rethink everything – from the rapid rise of homestays driven by tourism to the pollution that often comes with it.
UNESCO is seeking to build on this momentum by positioning students as change agents – encouraging them to come together across social boundaries to address shared challenges through mutual respect, equity and inclusion.
This vision takes a more structured form in another component of the HP Futures initiative: the Values Education through Sport (VETS) pillar. Conducted across Mandi, Kangra and Shimla – the state’s capital – between October and November 2025, a series of trainings introduced teachers to the Sport Values in Every Classroom Toolkit (SVIET).
For Jeevan Bala, a teacher at Kendriya Primary School in Mehra, Kangra, the training held on 27-28 November was as much about preparation as it was about participation – learning how to design activities, plan them thoughtfully and guide meaningful conversations with students around values.
“It was an upskilling experience,” she said, “not just learning engaging ways to integrate these into school activities, but also how to plan for them.”
She hopes to carry that forward into her own classroom.
UNESCO has continued to follow up on these trainings as they move into practice across Himachal’s mountain schools, using activities – from yoga to simple games – to teach values like respect.
read more: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/how-environment-sport-and-skills-are-shaping-young-change-makers-himachal-pradesh?hub=701
