UPES Hosts Bonjour India: An Indo-French Summit on Higher Education & Research
Dehradun: UPES, Dehradun in collaboration with Embassy of France in India and Institut Francais en Inde (IFI) organized the Bonjour India Future Tour, a two days dialogue aimed at strengthening the partnerships through education, training, research and innovation. The intense exchange program witnessed participation of scientists, academics and corporate from both the countries. In addition, it gives enterprises both French and Indian, a platform to express their needs in a rapidly changing economy of India.
The day one of the Future Tour at UPES witnessed intense sessions on Renewable Energies, with a special focus on Decarbonizing the Energy Mix with alternative energy sources and Solar Energy: Energy of tomorrow’s India. The workshop also assembled experts to discuss about Energy Storage and Smart Distribution & Electric Vehicles with focus on Electric Vehicles and Latest advancements in storage solutions and Implementation of Smart Grids solutions. The corporate-academic session presented perspectives for Public Private Partnership and role of financing renewable energy and positive impact of finance in the sector. The opening ceremony was addressed by Mr. N Ravi Shankar, former Chief Secretary, Govt. of Uttarakhand and Prof. Adèle Martial-Gros, Deputy Director, French Institute in India.
The day two of the event was dedicated for students to learn about study opportunities at various universities in France, the French higher education system and industrial exposure in the specific domain of priorities. Additionally the event offered them a platform to meet one-on-one with the representatives from the French institutions and industries to understand their industrial needs.
“We are delighted to create a platform for dialogue via Bonjour India which intends to connect Indian students with experienced & specialized French scholars, researchers and companies. This initiative is specially designed to create a structure to relevant current themes of Smart Citizenship, High Mobility, and Going Green to the fullest. This initiative could only be possible with the help and support of our local partner institutes.”- said Dr. Bertand De Hartingh, General Curator of Bonjour India.
The Future Tour, the Knowledge Summit has been a first high level Indo-French Summit on Higher Education & Research and has laid out the roadmap for Indo-French collaboration for the next decade based on the recommendations of the Round Table discussions held during each Future Tour. The Future Tour was also organised in other cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. With Bonjour India 2017-18, India and France have come together to create, innovate and partner towards a progressive and sustainable future.