Earth Day marks the launch of 'Sustainable City' - a year-long series of events by IIHS and TiE Cleantech SIG
In recognition to the World Earth Day, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS), a national education institution, in association with The Indus Entrepreneurs Cleantech Special Interest Group (TiE Cleantech SIG) announced 'Sustainable City' - a year-long series of events on urban sustainability.
- (1888PressRelease) April 23, 2013 - This initiative aims to bring together sustainability experts, service providers and the general public to understand and explore opportunities in areas such as energy, water and waste management for corporate and academic campuses.
The inaugural event, themed 'Sustainable Campuses' was held at the R.V. College of Engineering. Targeted toward academic, industrial, residential and corporate campuses, the inaugural event featured live demonstrations of campus environmental solutions, clean technology vendors; expert presentations, panel discussions, interactive 'City Game' - an interactive simulation game where the participants used building blocks to create the sustainable city, and 'Experiential Sustainability Trail' which is a walk through a series of sustainable solutions displayed by the vendors, different colleges and DIYs.
Eminent subject matter experts - Ravichander, Chairman Feedback Consulting was present for the inaugural, who touched upon 'State of play in Bangalore' and 'Sustainability Challenges'. This was followed by a panel discussion on 'Sustainable Campus: Challenges, Achievements, and Opportunities'. The panelists included Kalpana Kar, Member, Bangalore Political Action Committee B.PAC, Rama N.S., CEO Electronic City Industries Association (ELCIA) and Dr. Basavaiah, Expert Committee, BBMP.
The event also featured some of the sustainability initiatives undertaken by academic campuses such as RV College, BMS College of Engineering, SIT-TUMKUR, Dayanand Sagar College of Engineering, SJB Institute of Technology and Christ University. Speaking on Solid Waste Management during the panel discussion, Kalpana Kar, Member, Bangalore Political Action Committee B.PAC, said, "In crisis lies the opportunity and hence Waste Management is an opportunity for engagement and involvement. It calls for change in attitude to waste, for policy and action and for industry to participate. There lies a business prospect in converting the inert waste into power. There is a lack of institutional capacity in the current structure to deal with solid waste management issues, hence there is an opportunity for young entrepreneurs to create innovative solution which will lead to sustainable cities."
Speaking on the year-long event 'Sustainable City', Mr. Aromar Revi, Director, IIHS said, "India's urban population is expected to increase to about 800 million by 2050, an increase of an astonishing 500 million persons. Urban infrastructure is not equipped to keep pace with this explosion in urban population growth, resulting in a lack of public services, dissatisfied residents, deteriorating environment, and a host of other problems. These problems require holistic thinking and collaboration within an effective ecosystem. The year-long event will give us the opportunities and platform to collectively discuss and explore solutions to these problems."
Mr. Ashok Das, Chair - TiE Cleantech SIG, said, "Through a year-long series of events, TiE Cleantech SIG and IIHS are incubating this eco-system of subject matter experts, policy makers, decision makers, industry professionals and entrepreneurs who can collaborate on the solutions required to make India's cities sustainable. TiE Cleantech SIG expects to enable entrepreneurs and businesses and IIHS expects to develop case material for urbanization and 'incubate' solutions."
As part of the Sustainable City, IIHS and TiE Cleantech SIG will conduct a series of events over the year that cover urban energy, water, waste, sanitation and transport to bring new perspectives to planners, consumers and service providers. These events will be designed to highlight the opportunities in the sector, provide a platform for collaboration, and enable access to the technical and financial support necessary for entrepreneurs.
Some of the colleges who showcased their campus environmental solutions at the event were Christ University, Dayanand Sagar College, RV College of Engineering and PESIT.
IIHS contact person and contact details: Raghavendra Raju, 9740220875
Website link: http://www.iihs.co.in/events/conferences/the-sustainable-growth-of-cities-series/
Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sustainable-City/562333247123904
Twitter handle: #sustaincity2013
About IIHS
The Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) is a national education institution committed to the equitable, sustainable and efficient transformation of Indian settlements. IIHS is India's first prospective independently funded and managed inter-disciplinary National University for Innovation that focuses on its ongoing urban and development transformation. It is a first-of-its-kind, practice and innovation-oriented knowledge institution that seeks to bridge the conventional excellence, scale and inclusion divide. For more information, see www.iihs.co.in.
About TiE Cleanteach SIG
The TiE Bangalore Special Interest Group (SIG) on Cleantech was launched in June 2008 with the aim to establish the ecosystem for clean technology and provide its members opportunities for mentoring, networking and discussing trends in technology and business in the clean technology areas.
Media contact:
Gutenberg Communications
Pallavi Jha / Milan Mathias
pallavi.j ( @ ) gutenbergpr dot com
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