Sri Sri University and Bronx community college, CUNY combats climate change in Odisha with XIM University, and U.S. Consulate
Cuttack: Sri Sri University (SSU) has organized an international conference on Climate Change Education in collaboration with City university of New York (CUNY) & US Consulate Hyderabad, CUNY – India Climate collaborative and XIM University followed by a Press Meet on 22nd September, 2022.
The two-day conference aims at imparting a broad-based liberal education that encourages students to think beyond disciplinary silos and fosters conversations on holistic and nuanced solutions to various existential challenges from climate change to pandemics. This event was followed by the installation of Solar Automatic Weather Station under NOFO Grant from US State Department with Prof. Neal Philip and Prof. Paramita Sen as the Principal Investigator. The grant has facilitated the installation of weather station which will help students and researchers for conducting experimental researches on weather and climate. It was truly a remarkable moment for the University on its 10th year as the weather station will significantly benefit the collection, measurement and analysis of all critical surface weather parameters.
The first day was a workshop and the second day was paper presentations and discussions on the climate change education. The concourse was addressed by Chief guest, Dr. Thomas A. Isekenegbe, President Bronx Community College, City University New York with ten senior members from academics from the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science and others. The names of the dignitaries include Prof. Paramita Sen, Prof. Neal Phillip, Prof. Dr. Reza Khanbilvardi, Dept of Civil Engineering, CUNY, Executive Director of the CUNY CREST Institute, Dr. Shakila Merchant Associate Director of NOAA-CESSRST at City College of New York, CUNY, Dr. Tarendra Lakhankar, Senior scientist/NOAA-CESSRT, City College of New York, CUNY and US Consulate Hyderabad Delegation include Mr. David Moyer, Public Affairs Officer and Mr. Salil Kader, Strategic Public Engagement Advisor. The leadership team of Sri Sri University headed by Prof. Mrs. Rajita Kulkarni, Prof. B.R.Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Debi Prasad Sahu, Executive Registrar, Mr. Gaurav Verma, Director Operations, Prof. Rabinarayan Satpathy, Dean, Faculty of Science & Faculty of Emerging Technologies and Director to the Office of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Jay Prakash Bhatt, Professor in Environmental Science among all the Deans and Head, students of the Departments of Sri Sri University.
Dr. Phillip noted, “We have a strong track record of working not only with India, but also with Spain and Australia on climate change and other sustainability issues. Our BCC and other CUNY students have made a significant contribution to this effort, and we could not have accomplished this without their efforts.”
Professor Sen added, “Through this diplomacy grant from the US State Department academic institutions of the United States and India are working in collaboration to battle the climate crisis the world is experiencing.”
Dr. Thomas A. Isekenegbe, President of Bronx Community College, said: “Bronx Community College is honored to receive this State Department Public Diplomacy Grant to advance our work on climate change in India.” He said people to people communication is the most important aspect of learning. That way, we can arrive at a solution which has the most desirable and sustainable outcome.
Prof. Mrs. Rajita Kulkarni said that we shall work through awareness, advocacy and action. She explained about the objective, motive and goal of the international conference. She acknowledges the historic day for Sri Sri University and reminisces that one world family (Vasudhaiva kutumbakam) is the guiding principle of founder of Sri Sri University and The Art of Living Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Sri Sri University blends the best of the east and the west when it comes to imparting knowledge and honing skill set. It creates an environment which fosters competitiveness, creative thinking, innovation and holistic education. Sri Sri University has documented the presence of 75 varieties of birds in the 188 acres campus, herbal gardens, and 40 acres of agricultural farmland with a focus on chemical-free farming. Sri Sri University has also participated in the global ranking of Times Higher Education Sustainable Development Goals, New York for the year 2020 and 2021 which is participated by approximately 1400 Universities from 92 countries of the world annually. The University has been ranked 801 out of 1115 Institutions with an average score of 36.5 out of 100, participating in all the categories of 17 SDGs in 2020. In 2021 ranking, the University showed significant improvement in staying in the score range of 57.3–64.9 out of 100. Among Indian Universities SSU ranked in top five in UNSDG 2, 12, 14 and top ten in SDG 7, 11, 15, 16 amongst Indian Universities with an overall rank of 23 making state and the country proud. This reinforces the commitment of the University for sustainable development. These initiatives and international collaborations are in line with recommendations of NEP 2020 as well.