Hindu campaigners in push to encourage eco-careers

A Hindu eco-group is urging more south Asians who follow the faith to take up careers in the environment sector and build up their own grassroots efforts.

Hindu Climate Action (HCA) encourages a greener lifestyle and aims to increase ethnic representation in eco-activism.

Co-founder Priya Koria said: "There are certain career paths which people think they should be doing such as medicine, dentistry or engineering."

HCA has more than 500 members and has run 30 events in the past year.

The recent workshop, which was organised with the National Hindu Students Forum (NHSF) UK highlighted careers such as wildlife photography and environmental consultancy and sustainable engineering.

Ms Koria, from Bristol, said the "arts or even environmental sciences ... feel less accessible" and encouraged people to do different courses ranging from free learning to Masters, adding it would not do anybody's career "any harm".

The group also encourage students to do simple tasks to help them take positive action.

"We had a pyramid of climate challenges - ranging from cooking a vegan meal or up-cyling an item," said Ms Koria.

"It's taking that leap and having the confidence in yourself, of having a go but it's also networking at the same time.

"Through HCA I've met so many amazing people, groups doing work similar to ours or doing completely different work to us.

"Without trying you wouldn't be opening yourself up. There's only so much you can do behind books - you have to go out there."

One of those attending the workshop was music graduate Aashna Patel, 22, from Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire who graduated from the University of Bristol earlier this year.

She switched her career goals from music performance to environmental policy after volunteering for Hindu Climate Action and attending the career workshop.

"I found that when I was doing my uni work it wasn't as satisfying compared to the work I was doing for Hindu Climate Action, so I thought music performance wasn't right for me."

She is due to start a Masters in environment, politics and development at Kings College, London.

"It's really up and coming at the moment, there's a lot of carbon targets that different companies are needing to meet.

"These companies need people to have the know-how to meet these targets and it's definitely becoming more important."

Hindu Climate Action network has also partnered with South Asians for Sustainability, which was set up in January by Vibhati Bhatia, 25, from Birmingham who was on the career workshop panel.

Her work has also included showcasing south Asian professionals to "show the diversity within the sector that does exist" and help encourage more people into it.

She added that another goal was to reach a wider audience in the lead up to the Glasgow climate change conference COP26 which begins on 31 October.

The aim is to secure a slot on a free American online platform called Ted Talks which runs talks on education, business, science, tech and creativity.

Long-term she aims to register as a Community Interest Company.

"We really want to reach out to south Asian businesses and business owners, community organisations, and religious organisations and make sustainability relatable to every south Asian.

"It could be going down the religious festival route, large events like weddings or at a policy level for businesses to do better," she added.

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]