Education is not only a fundamental right of every human being but also the power to build a better future, said Dr. Tim Curtis, Director of the UNESCO Delhi Office and Representative for India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. He was speaking at the International Conference on Sustainable and Resilient Futures held at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Amritapuri campus.
While UNESCO collaborates with many stakeholders to utilize the power of education effectively, partnerships with institutions like Amrita University stand out as exemplary, he noted. He added that this is precisely why UNESCO has been able to work with Amrita for many years.
At the inaugural session held at Amritapuri, Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta IAS, Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner of Karnataka State, and KV Shaji, Chairman of NABARD, attended as chief guests. Swami Poornamritananda Puri, General Secretary of Mata Amritanandamayi Math, delivered the benedictory address. Dr. P. Ajith Kumar (Registrar, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham), Dr. Maneesha V. Ramesh (Provost), Dr. Bipin G. Nair (Dean, Amrita School of Biotechnology), and Dr. M. Ravishankar (Principal, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures) also participated.
To promote sustainability and resilience across different levels of society, and to make geo-enabled indicators accessible to the public, Dr. Tim Curtis launched the “Sustainability and Resilience by Community Engagement and Empowerment (SREE)” digital platform during the conference inauguration. He added that more digital platforms focused on sustainability will be introduced in the coming days.
The Amrita School for Sustainable Futures, in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Experiential Learning for Sustainable Innovation and Development and the International Network for Sustainable Innovation and Resilient Futures, is hosting the four-day international conference from August 29 to September 1. The conference covers nine thematic tracks, including climate, ecological restoration, and sustainability.
Organized in a completely carbon-neutral manner, the international conference will feature around 80 expert talks, along with hackathons, symposia, NGO conclaves, workshops, paper presentations, and discussions over the course of four days. Nearly 1,000 participants from more than 20 countries have arrived at Amritapuri to take part in the event.
(This is a press release by the Amrita University.)