Indalo Yethu

The primary goal of Indalo Yethu is to design and implement an environmental awareness campaign, which premised on sustainable development principles, will seek to encourage responsible environmental practice within and across all sectors and levels of society.
Indalo Yethu - meaning Our Place, Our Environment and Our Heritage - aims to mobilise South Africans to develop a consciousness which should result into action that appreciates the fundamental role of natural resources as the platform for economic and social progress. In this regard efforts will be made for people to adjust their lifestyle so it reflects a greater responsibility towards the environment.

The Indalo Yethu campaign is essentially established to reinforce the role of environmental management within the context of the country's economic and social development programme. This initiative, by South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, is a Legacy project of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development hosted by South Africa in 2002.

Education for Sustainable Development

The most important task if we are to conserve the earth is to educate and change individual behavior. Education for Sustainable Development at all levels makes a critical contribution to people's ability to participate in caring for the earth. Thus the campaign aims to develop human creativity and capacity to participate in determining the future of our planet. Indalo Yethu strives to improve people's capacity to address environmental problems by "facilitating" and "publicizing" action based projects.

Partnership Driven Public Campaign

Indalo Yethu develops partnerships with and across the private and public sectors as well as with communities, youth and women groups to illustrate that an environmentally conscious way of life has immediate and tangible socio-economic benefits for individuals, communities and institutions.

In order to mobilise action and behavioural change in South Africa, Indalo Yethu will provide information and mobilisation programmes to enable the formation of a broad social movement which involves young and old, poor and rich, urban and rural.

The Campaign Thrusts

The Campaign has identified three thrusts, Deepening Public Consciousness about environmental issues, Environmental Endorsement and Flagships Projects. The Flagship projects will focus on "greening" of institutions, services, products and events, for example relevant stakeholders will be positively influenced to join forces in mitigating the inevitable environmental impact of the Football World Cup in 2010 and beyond. Our Flagship projects are centred on a call to action beyond awareness Indalo Yethu has developed a Greening Framework and identified the following five key issues on which to take action:

Air Pollution and Climate change
Gas emissions from entities like cars, airplanes, households and manufacturing processes all result in climate change. It is imperative to start exploring the practicalities and implications of different consumption patterns which will result in more positive outcomes.
People and Biodiversity
It has become imperative to promote an improved relationship between humankind and the rest of biodiversity, given the interdependent relationship between these.
Energy
Our energy use is largely dominated by coal powered electricity and imported crude oil. Through this theme Indalo Yethu promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Water
Water quality is under threat and wastage due to pipes leakages is common. Through this theme Indalo Yethu promotes efficiency and conservation interventions.
Waste Management
Landfill sites are reaching their life span and littering has direct impact on the quality of life, and health. Through this theme Indalo Yethu promotes sound waste management practices and the 3R's, Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.