Ahmedabad University, India, established The Climate Institute to address one of the world's most pressing challenges in the power of research, education, and impactful initiative. It is to develop India's first holistic climate, energy, and environmental education program for future leaders who will shape global climate challenges. There will be recruitment of new faculty members, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers into the institute to flesh out its research capacity with a multi-disciplinary approach. The findings from these research will be translated into actionable policies and more innovative solutions for environmental challenges through national and international collaborations.
Its work is divided into three core areas: Energy and Climate Change, Cities and Settlements, Air and Water.
Energy and Climate Change: The Global Centre for Environment and Energy will draw on experience to provide leadership in policy innovation in energy transitions and climate change mitigation. Cities and Settlements: Building on the international leadership of the University in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, this component will enable research into climate change-related trends in urbanisation in the Global South. The Air and Water vertical merges ground and satellite data in ways that feed into policy considerations, not just for air quality but also health. There will also be a water quality lab, facilitating interdisciplinary research in this context.
The Institute will build the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral-level education programs with curriculum developed in collaboration with national and international collaborators. It also will provide Executive Education for mid-career government and industry professionals as well as concentrations in Sustainability and Climate and Energy.
The Climate Institute is "aimed at becoming a global centre for research collaboration, linked to universities right from America, Europe to Asia".
This will include partnerships such as an Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago called EPIC Centre, and co-bids with the London School of Economics and Warwick University around energy economics and policy. It will also partner with Social Alpha in this mission to boost climate-tech startups and engage with governmental bodies to contribute to reports from the IPCC and the United Nations.
The Institute has Dr Balaji Srinivasan, Founding Executive Director and Professor Minal Pathak as its Academic Director. Professors Minal Pathak, Anant Sudarshan, and Aditya Vaishya will lead research activities in different verticals of the Institute.
The Advisory Board of the Institute consists of faculty from academia and policy representing the institutional leadership of Princeton University, University of Hong Kong, and the University of Chicago.
Ahmedabad University launched The Climate Institute, furthering the commitment made by Ahmedabad University that recently earned IGBC Platinum Rating and recognition in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings for climate action. The Arboretum project of the University had blossomed into a vibrant mini-urban forest adding significantly to the green spaces of the city.
Ahmedabad University Overview
Ahmbedabad University was established in 2009 with the sole aim of liberal education where discipline-based learning with an emphasis on inter-disciplinary study and research was the prime objective. In fact, Ahmedabad University was a Centre of Excellence declared by the Government of Gujarat. Among its many accolades for excellence are:
Grade accreditation awarded by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, NAAC. It has been graded 5-star by Gujarat State Institutional Rating Framework, GSIRF. Prizes and Recognition Royal Institute of British Architects International Award for Excellence 2024. Indian Green Building Council award with Platinum and Gold ratings in sustainability. From undergraduate to postgraduate level, the various programmes offered by the 13 schools and centers of the University, offering a newly introduced Climate Institute, allow critical thinking combined with practical abilities in a student community up to sophisticated levels through a different, interdisciplinary education in response to challenges the society faces.
