Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability
Strengthening India’s response to the climate crisis
The Centre was established in May 2019, with the goal of furthering research, education and outreach on climate change in critical gap areas relevant to India’s future. The Centre’s activities include
- Annual Climate Festivals: Rivers of Life, the first festival held in Bangalore in November 2022, and in Yadgir in January 2023, reached over 12,000 visitors in both locations. Forests of Life, held in Bangalore in November 2023, is a trilingual (English, Kannada and Hindi) festival that spreads nature awareness to over 20,000 students, practitioners, media, Government personnel, and other critical groups. The University trains and funds over 100 young interns who head out across the country to research and report on the state of the environment for this festival, thereby also providing capacity building.
- Credited programmes: The University has launched a new undergraduate major in Environmental Science and Sustainability: a first-of-its-kind programme in India, which will train young undergraduates in the science of environmental change, help them understand the economic, social and policy dimensions of environmental governance, and build capacity for environmental action through rigorous internships and research projects.
- Capacity building for working professionals: The Centre hosts short courses, webinars and podcasts in areas as diverse as nature writing for children, climate reporting for media, and data analysis for environment professionals – strengthening capacity for climate action in the country.
- Public communication: Through popular science books, how-to guides, and research reports on areas of public interest, such as tree planting guides; books on urban trees and water issues in cities; climate change and biodiversity; and annual high-level reports with near-future climate forecasts for climate adaptation planning.
Let’s Talk Climate Change
Dive into an engaging conversation with Rohan Arthur, Scientist, Nature Conservation Foundation, as he sits down for an insightful interview with renowned Indian ecologist Harini Nagendra, Director, Research Centre, Azim Premji University.
Nature in our Cities | State of Indian Birds 2023
Let’s talk Climate Change
Nature Writing for Children
People
People
Publications
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Article
Nature based solutions in cities of the global South — The ‘where, who and how’ of implementation
Nature-based solutions have gained popularity as an approach to reduce the impacts of climate and environmental change, providing multi-fold and multi-sectoral benefits especially in cities. Yet there has been growing concern about their utility for cities of the Global South, a concern fuel led by…
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Article
Climate data democracy is essential for climate action
When NASA provided free worldwide access to the Landsat data archive, scientists greatly expanded the analysis of new locations and novel topics. Of course, data democracy is not just for scientists. When citizens own the rights to generate and access data that speaks to their…
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Newsletter
Mountains of Life June Newsletter
The second edition of the Mountains of Life newsletter highlights the importance of World Environment Day with a focus on land restoration and drought resilience. It features stories on the impact of desertification on Indian mountain ecosystems and communities, showcases sustainable agricultural practices like the…
Perceptions of ecosystem services and knowledge of sustainable development goals around community and private wetlands users in a rapidly growing city
Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability (2024)Mountains Of Life April Newsletter
Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, Research Centre (2024)How a tree-hugging protest transformed Indian environmentalism
Seema Mundoli (2024)Tree Planting Guide for Houses and Apartments in Bengaluru
Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability (2023)Environmental Impacts of Proposed Flyover on Sankey Road
Harini Nagendra, Seema Mundoli, Vijay Nishanth (2023)Forests of Life October Newsletter
Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability (2023)Good Luck or Bad Omen: Attitudes Towards the Slender Loris in the City of Bengaluru, India
Harini Nagendra, Kaberi Kar Gupta, Varsha Bhaskaran (2023)Forests of Life September Newsletter
Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability (2023)Forests of Life August Newsletter
Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability (2023)Forests of Life July Newsletter
Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, Research Centre (2023)Forests of Life June Newsletter
Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, Research Centre (2023)Chasing Soppu
Dhruthi Somesh, Harini Nagendra, Ranjini Murali, Rohit Rao, Seema Mundoli (2022)‘Songs of the lake’: Understanding cultural expressions of nature through dwindling folk-songs and mythologies in Bengaluru
Harini Nagendra (2023)Rethinking inclusivity and justice agendas in restoration of urban ecological commons: A case study of Bangalore lakes
Harini Nagendra (2022)Resilience and conservation of urban commons: Lessons from three community-restored lakes in Bengaluru
Dechamma C S, Harini Nagendra (2022)A new imagination for waste and water in India’s peri-urban interface
Seema Mundoli, Dechamma C S, Harini Nagendra (2021)Where have all our gunda thopes gone?
Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability, School of Development
Jobs
Events
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Webinar
Planet Protectors: Stories of Green Heroes
Nature Writing For Children | Talk with Bahar Dutt and Shashwat DC
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Festival
Forests of Life | Bhopal
Rooted in the commitment to climate awareness, this festival promises an immersive exploration of our ecosystems.
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Call for Internship
Mountains of Life | Our Nature and Climate Awareness Series
Inviting young aspiring individuals (up to 25 years) to intern for Mountains of Life festival. Selected interns will be eligible for a one-month paid internship programme.
ecoXplorers 2023
The first Nature, Biodiversity and Forests Inter-College Quiz Competition, organised as part of Forests of Life
Nature Writing for Children: Salim Mamoo and Me
Zai Whitaker, in conversation with Shashwat D C, about her books on nature and her upbringing in a family of conservationists
Nature writing for children: Hello, Sun!
Rajiv Eipe, Illustrator and Author, in conversation with Shashwat D C, on the different aspects of illustrating children's books
Climate Crisis and the Indian Monsoon
Developing adaptation strategies to minimise economic loss and loss of life and livelihood
Let's Talk Climate Change | India's Energy Conundrum
Systems Thinking for Examining Sustainable Futures
नेचर राइटिंग फॉर चिल्ड्रेन: ये सारा उजाला सूरज का
इस महीने के वेबिनार में हमारे साथ जुड़ रहे हैं, जाने-माने लेखक संपादक सुशील शुक्ल जो अपनी रचना ये सारा उजाला सूरज का, हमारे साथ साझा करेंगे।
Nature in Our Cities: Bats Around Us
Know more about bats that abound around us, including the wonderful Flying Foxes.
Forests of Life | Our Nature and Climate Awareness Series
Inviting students and young professionals from various geographies of India. Selected interns will be eligible for a three-month paid internship programme.
Nature Writing for Children: The Tiger, The Bear and the Battle for Mahovann
Join us for a conversation with Akshay Manwani, author of the children's book The Tiger, The Bear and the Battle for Mahovann, as we discuss his book and the genre of nature writing for children.
Let's Talk Climate Change | Revisiting the Anthropocene: Towards a Historical Approach
The talk by Mahesh Rangarajan, faculty member, Ashoka University, will be followed by a Q&A session moderated by Harini Nagendra, faculty member, Azim Premji University.
Rivers of Life
Using knowledge-sharing exercises on rivers amongst urban children, we hope to create more awareness amongst the next generation of citizens.
Dialogue on the Rivers of Bengaluru
Nature Writing for Children: When a forest wakes up, with Sudarshan Shaw
OMG! Snake! Look at snakes in a new light, with Gerry Martin
Nature Writing for Children: Up the Mountains of India
Nature Writing for Children: Wild and Wilful
Nature Writing for Children: Vikram-Aditya Series with Deepak Dalal & Sravanti Uppaluri
Nature Writing For Children: Coral Women by Lubaina Bandukwala & Aparna Karthikeyan
Nature Writing For Children: Talk with Katie Bagli & Chandrima Home
Nature Writing for Children with Benita Sen and Shashwat DC
Nature Writing For Children with Shobha Viswanath & Harini Nagendra
Nature Writing for Children: Talk with Arthy Muthanna Singh, Mamta Nainy & Madhuri Ramesh
Nature Writing for Children: Talk with Chanchal Singha Roy & Karishma Modi
News
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How Bengaluru’s lakes disappeared
Once a city of lakes that functioned as the community centre of local neighbourhoods, Harini Nagendra and Hita Unnikrishnan, in The Indian Express, delve deeper into Bengaluru’s acute water crisis.
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What happens when Bengaluru’s taps run dry?
To reimagine the city’s waterscape, it is essential to rebuild our lost relationship with the many meanings of water, writes Seema Mundoli, in The Indian Express.
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How Bengaluru grew and thrived around lakes
Bengaluru’s development as a city is inextricably linked to the development of multiple lakes, writes Harini Nagendra, in The Hindu. These lakes were created not only by rulers but also by common people.
Collectively blind to pollution
Harini Nagendra, in Deccan Herald, explains how rubber tyres constitute an invisible link between air and water pollution and may have severe impacts on human health.
Harini Nagendra, Seema Mundoli - “Caste shapes access to water in so many ways”
The authors of Shades of Blue discuss climate change, its impact on the most disadvantaged sections of society, and the ongoing water crisis across Indian cities, with Arunima Mazumdar, in Hindustan Times.
Small kindnesses
This December 31, when we light candles to usher in the New Year, let us make each spot of light count toward a small kindness for the environment, writes Harini Nagendra, in Deccan Herald.
Climate Festivals of Joy
Climate communication needs to be interesting rather than preachy, centred around nature instead of climate disasters, and using approaches of ‘show’ not ‘tell’, writes Harini Nagendra, in Deccan Herald, as we gear up for the Forests of Life festival.
Water in the age of climate change, with Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli
Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli speak to Divya J Shekhar, Forbes India, about our complicated collective history with water, community warriors who are showing the way, whether we need to put a price on water, and how we can start rebuilding our relationship with it.
Could Udaipur, City of Lakes, turn into a dust bowl surrounded by denuded mountains?
An excerpt from ‘Shades Of Blue: Connecting the Drops in India's Cities’, by Harini Nagendra and Seema Mundoli, published in Scroll.
A Hot and Angry Earth
Climate change is not just global warming. It is a new era of extremes. The floods that Kerala witnessed in 2021, and which Greece faced last week, are not aberrations, but a sign of things to come, writes Harini Nagendra, in Deccan Herald.
Plastic Earth
India is the second-largest generator of plastic waste, second only to the US. Plastic is cheap and convenient, but ultimately, we pay a steep price for this convenience. Harini Nagendra, in Deccan Herald, explores the way out.
Environment first, dear new government
In a city (Bengaluru) that always seems to be reactively scrambling to deal with environmental challenges, it will be critical for the new government to take sustainability seriously, writes Harini Nagendra, in Deccan Herald.
Heritage trees need legal rights
Trees that are decades and centuries old must have the same legal status as our heritage buildings, recognising their cultural significance, writes Harini Nagendra, faculty member, Azim Premji University, in Deccan Herald.
Harini Nagendra: Ecologist by profession, writer by passion
Harini Nagendra, faculty member, Azim Premji University, shares about finding her path in research, bias in academia, writing beyond research, and more, in conversation with Nita Shashidharan, in The Hans India.
Greening the country: Talk is cheap
Harini Nagendra, in Deccan Herald, states that the environment ministry's new approach to ecological restoration is the right path forward. However, she wonders if the budget commitment of INR 3,079 crore will match the stated intent.
Green growth: Budget numbers don't add up
While the output and growth narratives are clear, the increase in capex also signals increasing pressure on the environment, writes K C Adaina, in Deccan Herald.
Book review | At the feet of living things: Twenty five years of wildlife research and conservation in India
This is a must-read book for anyone interested in understanding the day-to-day complexities, frustrations and joys of working on wildlife conservation, writes Harini Nagendra, faculty member, Azim Premji University, in The Hindu BusinessLine.
A New Year resolution for the environment
Harini Nagendra, faculty member, Azim Premji University, in Deccan Herald, conducts a retrospective look back at the year that was—just as essential as New Year resolutions for the year. What did we do to the state of the environment in 2022?
Climate change: How the young will show us the way
If there is hope, it is with the next generation, who are not afraid to question our most basic assumptions about development, growth, and the environment, writes Harini Nagendra, Faculty member, Azim Premji University, in Deccan Herald.
How narratives of river-human entanglement can open up new ways in the study of life, in river landscapes
Namrata Sharma, student intern, Azim Premji University, in Guwahati Times, highlights how people from the Miyah community, living in the flood-prone regions of Assam, have devised various ways to adapt to the instability of rivers—a lifestyle as fluid as the Brahmaputra.
Machines on the river bed: A case study of Teesta and Rongyong
Indiscriminate mining is choking parts of the Teesta and Rongyong in Sikkim, writes Pema Yangden, a student intern at Azim Premji University, in Sikkim Chronicle.
Rivers of Life: An exhibition where children learn river conservation from personal stories
More than 300 persons worked for six months to create and curate the event, says Kunal Sharma, Faculty member, Azim Premji University, in conversation with Chiranjeevi Kulkarni, in Deccan Herald.
Explore 70 rivers at Rivers of Life festival, an initiative by Azim Premji University
Apart from Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Cauvery rivers, the Rivers of Life festival has also captured details of lesser-known but equally important rivers such as Ayad (Udaipur, Rajasthan), Arpa (Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh) and Khad (Kangra, Himachal Pradesh).
How citizens' ecological imaginations can impact the future of our green infrastructure
Listen to the podcast by Harini Nagendra, Faculty, Azim Premji University, in The Swaddle, on re-imagining environmental sustainability, reframing the development versus environment binary, and creating more equal cities by fostering urban commons.
Parliamentarians must ask more pertinent questions on climate change
Terms like ‘global warming’ or ‘climate change’ hardly reverberate in the sound-proof halls of Parliament. While there is a global crisis unfolding that is set to permanently shift the course of human history, most parliamentarians seem blissfully ignorant of it, writes Shashwat D C in Moneycontrol.