Chitkara University Collaborates with Federation University Australia Amidst Worldwide Water Crisis
In a unique initiative, Federation University, Australia has collaborated with Chitkara University to deliver a course on Management of Water resources. With an aim to come up with ways and means to deal with water management problems, as many as 30 students have been handpicked who will be taught to think in a holistic way to solve the water related issues. This course aims to develop Systems Thinking skills in addition to helping young budding engineering students to understand the multi-disciplinary nature of water resource management.
Dr. Harpreet Singh Kandra lighting the lamp along with Chitkara University officials at the inauguration of International Symposium on Water and Environmental Management
This travel is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australian Government’s Mobility grants and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), Victorian State Government.
Speaking on the occasion, Hon’ble Pro-Chancellor, Chitkara University, Dr. Madhu Chitkara observed, “The systems thinking skills acquired in this course through a mix of teaching methods in a multi-cultural environment will help prepare our graduates for a dynamically changing world. The collaborative nature of this course also aims to strengthen bonds between India and Australia, while building problem solving skills through sharing of better practices.”
Dr. Harpreet Singh Kandra, Academic and researcher, who is spearheading this project said that these collaborations enable Internationalisation of Curriculum (IoC) which is a mandate by the government as well. Dr. Kandra is a recipient of several awards in Australia wherein he has contributed to social cohesion and principles of sharing and caring. Relevant to this project is the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Contributions to Student Learning at Federation University Australia, 2020 , Dr. Kandra said, “The students are learning social, economic, environmental and management aspects of water management while also understanding the multidisciplinary, multicultural and interdisciplinary nature of this subject”.
Dr. Kandra stressed upon the significance of this program in light of Australia-India cooperation and the recent signing of Free trade agreement between the two nations. He congratulated all collaborators on this initiative in wake of our National Education Policy of 2020.
Students from the universities teamed up to deliberate structural and non-structural ways to measure and reduce their water footprint building on the core philosophy of ‘What gets measured, gets managed’. They also presented and brainstormed on successful case studies from different parts of the world focusing on innovative approaches such as recharge of aquifers, flood management, smart buildings, reuse of treated wastewater and stormwater and so on.
The program culminated with a networking dinner where Australian students interacted with local community experts to learn from their experiences of water and environmental management.
Dr. Harpreet Kandra had an award citation namely: Enhancing graduate preparedness for a globalised world through transformational, cross-cultural approaches to learning and Internationalisation of Curriculum (IoC).