The "Climate Tank Accelerator" community awareness program on climate change, organized by the American government, together with the non-governmental organization, Seeds of Peace, was successfully held on the 12^th of December 2024 at American Corner premises in Kandy.

2500 university students representing 5 South Asian countries were registered for this, and after completing an online certificate course in the first phase, 18 teams from various universities representing Sri Lanka were selected at the end of the first phase. After the completion of the first phase, each group started their projects and around 80 projects were submitted from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal representing various universities.

The SL Team 06, representing the University of Kelaniya, consisted of Chamodya Kodippiliarachchi, Aditya Hapuarachchi, Aruni Tennakoon, and Savindu Dilshara from the Department of Geography. The team "Reclaim" presented under the theme "Less Waste, More Energy" under the supervision of lecturer Indunil Ruwanwella.

The biogas unit designed focusing on the canteen of the university's new girls’ hostel premises, as per the project, was officially handed over to the university during a ceremony, held on the 14^th of October 2024, at the Board Room of the Faculty of Social Sciences, and was  attended by Professor M. M. Gunathilaka, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences; Senior Professor and Chair Lal Mervin Dharmasiri, Head of the Department of Geography along with other academic and non-academic staff members of the department; Mr. K. K. K. Dharmathilaka, the Registrar along with the members of the university administration; and representatives of the United States of America.

The certificate and prize-giving ceremony  of the competition was held on the 12th of December 2024 at the American Corner premises in Kandy, and the Reclaim team representing the University of Kelaniya was awarded the second place in Sri Lanka and a cash prize of $500. In addition, the delegation representing the American Embassy, ​​who appreciated this project as a very effective project, invited the Reclaim team for their future projects.

Afterwards, the team also met with Senior Professor Nilanthi de Silva, Vice-chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, on the 16^th of December 2024 at the Vice-chancellor’s office. See More