As cities expand and lifestyles evolve, opportunities for direct and guided engagement with biodiversity are becoming increasingly important. Nature Connect is a flagship biodiversity education programme that creates immersive, nature-centric learning experiences across 12+ states of India. Through guided eco-trails, citizen-science initiatives, thematic workshops, festivals and large-scale efforts such as the Great Backyard Bird Count, participants develop ecological understanding while contributing valuable data to conservation science.

The programme cultivates curiosity, strengthens community participation and encourages informed actions for conservation.

Students are exposed to environmental information from many sources. However, structured opportunities to explore wildlife in depth, ask questions and engage critically with biodiversity themes often remain limited within mainstream learning spaces. The Wild Wisdom Global Challenge is a large-scale wildlife quiz programme for students in Grades 6 to 9. Since its launch in 2008, it has evolved into a globally recognised platform that combines research, competition and thematic learning.

The WWGC is WWF-India’s invitation to young people to explore the living world around them and discover the richness of biodiversity and wildlife. Through an interactive, child-friendly platform, the Challenge reaches schools around the world, helping students understand the role they play in caring for nature.
Find out more: https://quiz.wwfindia.org/wwq/

Digital learning is now central to how people access knowledge and build skills. Environmental education can equip students, educators, youth, and citizens with 21st century competencies and green skills for a sustainability-driven world. One Planet Academy is WWF-India’s digital learning platform reaching audiences across India. It offers structured courses, games, comics, and e-books for classroom and independent use. Educators join focused training workshops, and learners engage through national events such as the Model Conference of Parties. The platform builds critical thinking, collaboration, digital literacy, and practical skills for climate action and biodiversity conservation, aligned with 2030 global goals. Find out more: https://academy.wwfindia.org/

Environmental learning often remains limited to theory, with sustainability not fully embedded into school vision, culture and everyday practices. To address this gap, WWF-India launched Mission Prakriti in 2022 as a teacher-guided, action-driven environmental leadership programme. It empowers government schools across India to integrate sustainability into daily functioning. The programme is built on a project-based and experiential-learning approach. It advocates for “learning by doing to create real change”. Teachers assess their school’s environmental health, identify local challenges and mentor students in designing practical, context-specific solutions. Focusing on biodiversity, water, waste, food and energy, Mission Prakriti transforms schools into green hubs. The impact extends to surrounding communities and fosters environmental stewardship, responsible practices and long-term commitment to sustainability across seven states and Union territories.
Find out more: https://academy.wwfindia.org/MissionPrakriti/

Young readers engage most deeply when environmental knowledge is vibrant and imaginative while also being credible. Science comes alive through stories, characters and illustrations that invite curiosity and exploration. Under the Environment Education programme, WWF-India is developing a body of green literature for children and youth. From richly illustrated books to thematic publications, each resource combines scientific research with compelling storytelling, strong visual design and interactive elements. The programme has collaborated with leading authors and artists such as Rohan Chakravarty, Roopa Pai, Bijal Vachharajani, Shweta Taneja, Arthy Muthanna Singh and Mamta Nainy. It combines creativity and science to make subjects like biodiversity, climate change and sustainability engaging and accessible for young readers.

Young people across India are ready to contribute to environmental solutions. Meaningful opportunities to lead initiatives, test ideas and gain experience help in turning this enthusiasm into sustained action. WWF-India engages youth through volunteering, innovation platforms and campus partnerships. The Volunteers programme enables people above 18 years of age to lead awareness sessions, participate in citizen science and support biodiversity documentation. The ECHO programme empowers university students to design and pilot solutions in sync with the Sustainable Development Goals. The Campus Engagement programme connects institutions with field-based activities such as surveys and biodiversity mapping. Together, these initiatives have engaged over 52,000 volunteers and 1,300 youth innovators across India.