Parag Somvanshi and Pratik Shinde, Class IX students of PMC schools who had never played computer games not only reached the final of a gaming competition based on climate change, but were also declared special awardees.

The event, Games Olympiad of Disaster And Climate Management (GODAC), was organised by the Global Challenge Award (GCA) and city-based Neeti Solutions at Capgemni campus in Talawade. “As special awardees, Parag and Pratik will be a part of one-year online project based on global warming. They will have to develop a workable solution for global warming as part of this project after discussions with their online counterparts from various countries,” said Parag Manakeekar, founder-director of Neeti Solutions.

Parag is elated. “It was fun and a learning experience. Though I had read about global warming as a subject in environmental science, I got to know of the problem and some practical solutions through this game,” he said.

Parag said he has now started using his bicycle. He also disallows his father, who works with a construction agency, from using a motorbike on Sundays.

Meanwhile, the two winners of GODAC ,Trupti Joshi, a Class IX student of Mar Ivanios Convent High School, Pimple Gurav and Roopak Karulkar, Class X student of Abhinav English Medium School, Pune, are all set to attend an international conference on climate change “COP15” in Copenhagen in December. “The winners will go as climate change ambassadors of Global Challenge Award and Neeti Solutions at the conference and make a presentation,” Manakeekar said.

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