CONCLAVE 2021: The New World (Dis)order

Centre for Science and Environment and its Green Educators’ Network conducted its first-ever hybrid National Knowledge Conclave post pandemic on The New World Dis(order) from September 23 to 25 at CSE’s residential campus, AAETI, Rajasthan. 

This Conclave was the sixth in the series of National Knowledge Conclaves organised by the network. CSE’s Green Educators’ Network and the Conclaves aim to provide educators access to the vast network of environment educators, scientists, activists, policy makers, regulators, lawyers and journalists. It provides teachers a platform to enhance their knowledge about environmental issues, politics and impart learnings for solutions.

The hybrid event this year was attended by 27 educators on-site at AAETI and another 27 educators from across the country online. Over the three days, the Conclave discussed and debated some of the key post-pandemic questions and issues with well-known experts and the Conclave’s participants.

Highlights: 

Reimagining the future in the post-COVID world by Sunita Narain: The Director General of CSE gave the opening presentation on the climate-risked world in the post-pandemic era and our learnings from it. The presentation focused on how the nature-human boundary has been transgressed and called for finding sustainable environmental solutions that work for all. 

Viruses, Variants and Vaccines: Vibha Varshney, CSE and the panel of some of the well-known experts in the field — T Jacob John, Shahid Jameel and Leena Menghaney — discussed the virus variants; COVID-19 patterns; and vaccine development and administration scenarios across the world, with specific reference to India. The session also delved into drug patent systems and how the market can be made conducive to more affordable alternatives. 

A Dystopian Relationship: Nature and Humans, and the Enigma of Zoonotic Diseases: Amit Khurana, CSE along with a panel of experts — Pranay Lal, Habibar Rahman and A T Vanak — deconstructed Zoonoses and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The discussions called for our food systems to be made more sustainable and the one-health approach where the human-animal-environmental sector stakeholders work together. 

The New World Dis(order): In this Conclave special, Sunita Narain and Jörg Haas, Head, International Politics Division, Heinrich Böll Foundation discussed the impacts of the pandemic and the way forward in the climate-risked, post-pandemic world. 

Multiple Crises: Climate Change and Migration: A session chaired by Richard Mahapatra, Managing Editor, Down to Earth, brought together experts from the field — Raghu Murtugudde, Vittal Hari, Umi Daniel and Avantika Goswami — to discuss the impacts of climate change across several sectors; migration due to climate hazards; water quality and health; and the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).  

Staying Ahead on Clean Air: How Not to Lose the Gains of the Lockdowns: Chaired by Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director of CSE, the session included presentations by experts — Manas Ranjan Ray, Mukesh Sharma and Rahul Bagdia — on the air pollution and mobility agenda for the new normal. 

Building Resilient Societies for the Future: The Promise of MGNREGA: The panel discussion chaired by Richard Mahapatra brought together expert perspectives by L K Atheeq, Brajesh Jha and Shagun Kapil on the promise of MGNREGA and how it proved to be the safety net for the migrants returning to cities . 

The Himalaya in Climate-risked Times: In this Conclave Special, Raju Sajwan shed light on climate change and its catastrophic impacts in the Himalayan regions, such as record-breaking temperatures, extreme rainfall, cloudbursts and landslides, with DTE case-studies from the ground.  

What is a Green Campus?: Presentations by Rajneesh Sareen and Sugeet Grover discussed the need for sustainable educational campuses that are in accordance with the global goals. The session also comprised some great model campuses and their learnings from CSE’s Green Campus Initiative. The presentations were followed by a campus tour of AAETI where educators came to know of its different aspects of sustainability. 

Looking Back – What Can We Do Together?: In this culminating session, CSE invited educators’ feedback and ideas on how the network can be leveraged to further build capacity of educational institutions and provide a common platform to students and teachers for knowledge sharing. 

To know more about the Green Educators’ Network and National Knowledge Conclave, please contact: 

Tushita Rawat
Environment Education Unit
tushita.rawat@cseindia.org\