I work for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy in the communications department and am traveling with the Crissy Field Center staff (Christy, Charity, Ernesto, Aekta and Jie) to the Fourth International Conference on Environmental Education in Ahmedabad, India. The conference is organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in partnership with UNEP (United Nations Environment Program, the Government of India's Ministry of Human Resource Development and Ministry of Environment and Forests. The focus of the conference is on the strategic role of education behind sustainable development.

Participants at the conference will have the opportunity to share best practices, ideas, and new initiatives. We will be presenting Crissy Field Center’s I-YEL (Inspiring Young Emerging Leaders) environment and leadership model as part of the UN's "Youth Trendsetters in Education for Sustainable Development" working group. We hope to explore new models of sustainability, share other case studies from the Golden Gate National Parks, and establish partnerships with international organizations.

We also are excited to experience India, visit national parks, and report back on the conference, speakers and the pulse of life in one of the most vibrant emerging economies in the world! The purpose of this blog is to chronicle our travels and experiences in India at the conference and beyond.

Today is our last day in the office before we fly out of San Francisco on November 18th to travel for four days (with a long layover in Seoul, Korea) to New Delhi. We will be visiting the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement (KFEM) in Seoul, as Christy’s friend, Choony Kim at the new Eco Center, has graciously offered to introduce us to her colleagues at KFEM working in environmental education.

My role is to introduce people joining us virtually on this adventure to environmental leaders from across the world and learn about the way they investigate and understand our planet. Please join us in our journey!