Dr.Aviram Sharma Leads Students On Field Trip To Explore Interactions of Environment, Tech & Society

October 14, 2017

A field trip was organized on October 14, 2017 to Udaipur village in Rajgir block of Nalanda district by Dr. Aviram Sharma, Asst. Professor in the School of Ecology and Environment Studies, for the students of the second year of the Masters Programme. The field work was part of the course titled Exploring the Interactions of Environment, Technology and Society in Asia (ETS), being taught to the students.

Udaipur is around three kilometres from the University’s Interim Campus. The students were divided into two groups, the first group explored the diffusion of sanitation technologies (toilets built under state and central government scheme for rural population) through government initiatives while the other one worked on the spread of digital technologies in rural areas of Bihar. Both the groups had identified the relevant literature and carried out the literature survey for their respective themes, well in advance. The two groups have also identified certain research gaps and based on that, they prepared a semi-structured questionnaire.

The first group working on the theme of “diffusion of sanitation technologies” analysed the following aspects:

  a)  How people perceive and understand the sanitation technologies provided through government schemes,

  b)  How to understand the diffusion of these technologies among the rural communities,

  c)  What are the challenges of implementing these schemes in specific socio-ecological regions?

The second group working on the theme of “spread of digital technologies” analysed the following aspects:

  a)  The spread of digital technologies in rural areas of Bihar,

  b)  For what purpose these technologies are used?

  c)  How the government is using these technologies to reach the “unreached” population for implementing various agricultural and environmental policies.

Both the groups got their questionnaires filled by interviewing the villagers.

The field work helped the students in understanding the social dimensions of diffusion of sanitation and digital technologies in rural Bihar. Students also learned how to make sense of different varieties of technologies and their diffusion pattern.