North East Centre for Research and Development Guwahati Launches Global Initiative For Sustainable Development and Planning GISDP

Mr. Saurabh Garg an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati and University of California, Berkeley, presently involved in industrial productization and commercialization of green and clean technologies in US, supported by the North East Centre For Research and Development (NECRD) IGNOU Guwahati has come up with the planning for a collaborative venture GISDP (Global Initiative for Sustainable Development and planning) to engage in a global dialogue for sharing insights and experiences on the urgency of the developed and the developing world for a planetary vision of human sustenance and how this vision needs to be worked out through local interventions in the areas of education, technology, industry, and governance. Identifying global initiatives in the west like the Yale Project of Climate Change in the Department of Forestry and Environment, Yale University, New Haven; and Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Division at Applied Materials; Avalon springs,Eco village at Napa valley California,and the Sustainability research divisions at University of California Berkeley the founder of GISDP Mr Saurabh Garg emphasized the significance of North East India in the Global discourse of Sustainability owing to its unique geo-political location and bio-cultural resources.To utilize and develop these resources in a diversified and balanced manner through a viable development model of Sustainability is of significance not just to the region but to the world as a whole.

The first National Stakeholders meet for GISDP was held on 20th February 2012 in NECRD, IGNOU Guwahati in collaboration with Numaligarh Refinery Ltd Assam, United Nations Resource Centre, Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad, Tata Institute of Social Sciences as part of its intervention in the planning of loose collaborations and exchange of expertise between institutions from all over the world for Sustainable Development of North East India. During the occasion Mr. P. P. Shrivastava, Hon’ble Member of North East Council, called on the Indian cultural ethos and evoked sustainable values that are embedded in Indian tradition. He emphasized the role of education to promote a culture of Sustainability in North East India. Renowned environment expert Prof. Dulal Goswami emphasized the need for an integrated management and assessment of natural systems in North East through grassroot intervention before any development planning can take place. He called for a global vision to comprehend the borderless nature of human and natural systems. Prof. Arbind Sinha, Associate Director, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad, emphasized the need for effective communication and dissemination of the tenets of sustainability in the rightful and logical manner. Dr Sujata Dutta Hazarika and Saurabh Garg Co founders for this initiative emphasized the important role of youth in the creation of a global vision of sustainability and appealed to the youth to take proactive steps in the intervention of any development model of the states in North east India. The meeting was attended by: Prof. Sandhya Goswami, Department of Political Science, Gauhati University; Ms. Navaneeta Deori, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences; Mr. Dwipen Bezbaruah, Department of Anthropology, Gauhati University; Dr. Putul Bhuyan, Project Manager, NERLP, NEC (Natural Resource Management and Environment); Dr. Rupam Kataki, Centre For Energy Research, Tezpur University; Dr. Sharma, Executive Director, United Nations Resource Centre; Prof. Dulal Goswami, Environmentalist and Dr. Anil. C. Borah, Deputy Director, NECRD, IGNOU.

 

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