The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) has received a grant of Rs 14 crore from the Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE) and Rs 5 crore corpus from philanthropist Rohini Nilekani.
“The infusion of new resources will enhance ATREE’s work on climate change, biodiversity conservation and environmental governance and policies,” said Kamal Bawa, president of ATREE. The cooperation with the Norwegians will also strengthen ATREE’s doctoral programme. “Funding from the Norwegian government will provide fellowship support to doctoral students,” according to Dr Ganesan Balachander, director of ATREE.
The Norwegian grant will also enable faculty and student exchanges between Norwegian research institutes and ATREE. Eivind S Homme, Norway’s Ambassador to India, launched the ATREE-RNE collaboration at ATREE’s head office here on Tuesday. The Ambassador said the scope for cooperation between Indian and Norwegian institutions is immense in the field of environment. “The grants from the Norwegian government and Rohini Nilekani will help ATREE meet challenges in environmental research and policy making as well as capacity building,” Balachander said.