India, as one of the world’s developing countries, faces many challenges when it comes to taking up specific developmental projects for the benefit of the people. Natural resource management and societal applications are the biggest areas in which the Government spends lots of funds.

Government spending of public money in many important areas, such as building rural and urban infrastructure, programmes on land and water conservation, agriculture, water, forests, energy, and many others, to ensure the sustainable development of all basic needs of the people, are efforts towards achieving our sustainable developmental goals (SDGs). This calls for meticulous planning and well-orchestrated implementation and monitoring.

Space technology provides many interesting solutions in terms of Earth observation, communication, and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based solutions. The presentation highlights specific areas where such solutions are being provided to the Government using space technology so that the goals of development and governance are met amicably.

The talk will be followed by a discussion with Ecologist Harini Nagendra, post which we will open up for a Q&A session with the audience.

About the Speaker

Dr P G Diwakar is a distinguished scientist and former Scientific Secretary of ISRO, with 36 years of experience in space technology and applications. 

He holds a PhD in Participatory Geomatics and has held various key positions in ISRO, including Head of Regional Remote Sensing Centre and Programme Director of Earth Observation & Disaster Management. 

Dr. Diwakar has made significant contributions to space-based natural resources management, geospatial technology, and disaster management, and has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Globe Sustainability Research Award and the ISRO Team Excellence Award. 

He is currently the ISRO Chair Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) and has published over 100 papers in national and international journals.

About the Moderator

Harini Nagendra is a faculty member at Azim Premji University, where she leads the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability. Her research focuses on social-ecological transformations in South Asia.

She received a 2013 Elinor Ostrom Senior Scholar award for her research and practice on urban commons. Her 2016 book Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future examines the implications of environmental change for cities of the global South. Her latest book, The Bangalore Detectives Club is a historical detective novel based in 1920s colonial Bangalore.