Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi
and
Liberty Institute
in partnership with
Friedrich Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit

Cordially invite you to a workshop on
Urban Challenges in the Context of Climate Change

New Delhi, 20 April 2012

This conference on climate change is a part of a series of similar events being organised by Liberty Institute. The concept note and background is available here.

Venue: Seminar Room, Bharti Building, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Date: 20 April 2012
Time: 9:00 to 17.30

Please register here.

Conference Album

Programme:

9:00-9:15 - Registration

9:15-9:45 - Perspectives : Urban Challenges in the Context of Climate Change   (Biographies)

• Welcome: Dr Arun Kumar/ Dr Arvind K Nema
• Climate Change Challenges: Prof A K Gosain
• About the Workshop: Barun Mitra

9:45-10:15 - Tea Break

10:15-11:15 - Session I: Water Management and Human Health Issues 
(Abstracts and Biographies)

• Dr. Anshuman -
• Dr Arun Kumar: Extreme weather events and water borne diseases: Uncertainties?

11:15-13:00 Session II: Urban Heat Island Effects and Urban Air Pollution 
(Abstracts and Biographies)

• Dr B R Gurjar: Air Pollution Emissions and Health Impacts in Megacity Delhi
• Prof. Manju Mohan: Urban climate and air pollution
• Dr. Priyanka Kulshreshtha: Disability adjusted life years and indoor air pollution-quantifying the burden of disease
• Dr. Sagnik Dey: Urban air quality: Unresolved issues and future direction

13:00-14:00 Lunch Break

14:00-15:45-  Session III: Green Construction/ Habitat 
(Abstracts and Biographies)

• Prof. K Jaisim - Climate Challenges - An Architectural View 
• Prof B. Bhattacharjee -
• Dr Poonam K Ahluwalia, Senior Manager-Environment (Civil), TCE Ltd., New Delhi - Institutional framework and policy changes required for optimum involvement of urban bodies in combating climate change
• Dr Shashank Bishnoi, Sustainability of cementitous materials

15:45-16:30 - Session IV: Urban transportation: The mismanagement of supply and demand 
(Abstracts and Biographies)

• Dr. Sanjay Singh: Strategies to reduce carbon emissions from passenger transport
• Prof. Geetam Tiwari -

16:30-17:20 - Panel discussion on innovative solutions: Meeting the challenges of mitigation and adaptation measures   (Biographies)

• Dr Suman Majumdar
• Prof B.J. Alappat
• Dr Arvind K. Nema
• Mr. Barun Mitra

17:20-17:30 Closing

Moderator: Mr. Mohit Satyanand, Liberty Institute, New Delhi

Speakers' Profile:

• Dr. Poonam K Ahluwalia, Senior Manager-Environment (Civil), TCE Ltd., New Delhi
• Prof. B.J. Alappat, Civil Engineering IIT Delhi
• Dr. Anshuman, Associate Director, Water Resources Division, TERI
• Prof B. Bhattacharjee, Civil Engineering Department, Indian Insitute of Technology, Delhi
• Dr. Shashank Bishnoi, Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi
• Dr. Sagnik Dey, Assistant Professor, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IIT Delhi
• Prof A. K. Gosain, Head of the Department, Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi
• Dr. B R Gurjar, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, IIT Roorkee
• Mr. K. Jaisim, Jaisim-Fountainhead Architect, Bangalore
• Dr. Priyanka Kulshreshtha, Assistant Professor, Lady Irwin College, New Delhi
• Dr. Arun Kumar, Civil Engineering, IIT, Delhi
• Dr. Suman Majumdar, Confederation of Indian Industries, New Delhi
• Mr. Barun Mitra, Liberty Institute, New Delhi
• Prof. Manju Mohan, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, IIT Delhi
• Dr. Arvind K Nema, Civil Engineering, IIT, Delhi
• Dr. Sanjay Singh, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow
• Prof. Geetam Tiwari, Professor, Civil Engineering IIT Delhi

About the Conference

When considering the future development of the urban sphere, especially in the context of developing countries, one very important key strategic aspect has to do with the systemic interplay between environmental, ecological, economic and socio-cultural factors.

Urban India faces many challenges, from land use, energy and water availability, natural resource flows, traffic, economic options, and other issues. Many of these are long standing issues, some of these may also be impacted in the event of changes in the climatic conditions. Most of these pending issues are, however, the consequences of policies that have lost their relevance in the rapidly expanding urban environment. Therefore, the real challenge is to come up with relevant changes in policy that would respond to the urban dynamic, keeping in mind the social acceptability, economic viability and technological appropriateness. If some of these current urban challenges are mitigated, that itself would help in building the capacity to adapt to any future climatic conditions.

In order to do so, there is a need to first outline the general landscape of various “grand challenges” which also emerge as “drivers” of change in various systems, including the urban ones. There is a need to carefully scrutinise such drivers, because quite often the “grand challenges” with its focus on future scenarios, overshadows the present requirements, as a result these drivers either get disconnected from the ground realities, or distort the priorities. 

The goal of this one day conference is to provide a platform for scholars and practitioners to discuss the various aspect of the urban environment in the context of the global discourse on climate change.

The conference would strive to focus on some of the technological possibilities in areas of built environment, water and health, transportation, and energy demands, to help boost energy and economic efficiencies. The conference will also try to identify the potential public policy challenges at different administrative levels that may either facilitate or hinder the adoption of relevant technologies and practices, and encourage appropriate innovation.

Coordinators: 

Dr Arvind K Nema, and Dr Arun Kumar,
Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi
Email: <aruku@civil.iitd.ac.in>