IIT Madras hosts water security and climate adaptation conference

The objective of this conference by IIT Madras is to exchange knowledge and practical know-how on the relationship between water security and adaptation to climate change.

IIT Madras hosts water security and climate adaptation conference

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is hosting a Water Security and Climate Adaptation (WSCA) conference from October 4 to 7, 2023 with a focus on Adaptation and Mitigation through Sustainable Development.

The conference is being coordinated by the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (ABCD Centre) in the Institute. The focus is on highlighting the importance of sustainability in water-related problems and emphasising its need to scientists, engineers, policymakers, and industries.

The overarching objective of this conference is to exchange knowledge and practical know-how on the relationship between water security and adaptation to climate change with best practice implementation.

This is to advance research strategies in this domain that will further take the nation forward to meet the goals for sustainable development in efficient water resources management.

The mission of the DAAD Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre is to address the challenges of ‘Water Security and Climate Adaptation’ through training, teaching, and research. This will facilitate transfer and link science with policy and the private sector to enable sustainable solutions for climate adaptation.

Addressing the inaugural session on October 4, Chief Guest Professor T. Balasubramanian, Former Director and Dean, Annamalai University, highlighted the need for close interaction with cross-disciplinary professionals in water, health, and policymakers to achieve stress-free water availability in the coming decades”

Further, Professor T Balasubramanian stressed the need to spread awareness of avoiding polluting water.

Conference Chair Professor S A Sannasiraj, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, said the focus of the conference theme is the strategy of Adaptation and Mitigation through Sustainable Development to address future water security. It is particularly significant because of the global trends striving to achieve self-sufficiency and sustainability in all regards.

The key focus area of WSCA 2023 is ‘Adaptation and Mitigation through Sustainable Development’. It is particularly significant due to the global trends striving to achieve self-sufficiency and sustainability in all regards.

India hosted the G20 summit 2023 in early September in New Delhi with its theme on ‘Lifestyle for the Environment’, with its associated, environmentally sustainable, and responsible choices, both at the level of individual lifestyles as well as national development. This will lead to globally transformative actions resulting in a cleaner, greener, and blue future.

Speaking earlier, Professor Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, highlighted the role of IIT Madras in addressing water scarcity and, in particular, lowering the zero liquid waste disposal within the IIT campus that leads to less maintenance costs.

Further, conference chairs, Professor S A Sannasiraj and Professor Ligy Philip stressed the need for collaborative efforts among different institutions to learn and adapt new climate-resilient technologies to secure stress-free water for future generations. A panel discussion during the conference highlights this aspect.

Michaela K¼chler, Consul General German, Chennai, expressed blanket support to all Indo-German collaboration in addressing the water starving issues.

Dr Katja Lasch, Director, DAAD Regional Office New Delhi/ DWIH New Delhi, said that DAAD, Germany, has a liberal policy in funding science and engineering addressing the problems related to the deficit of water.

The Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre — Aachen, Bangkok, Chennai, Dresden (ABCD-Centre) addresses the pressing issue of adaptation by humanity to the consequences of climate change with a special focus on water.

As a joint effort between leading scientific institutions, it enables a global dialogue, the transfer of research results into practice, and the education of future environmental leaders.

Speaking about the conference, coordinator Professor SA Sannasiraj, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “The objectives will be achieved through the notable academic platform for scientific, technical and policy-oriented discourses and discussions. The ABCD partners have an extraordinarily strong and large network, including the Centre for International Postgraduate Studies of Environmental Management (CIPSEM) and the United Nations University.”

Conference coordinator Professor Ligy Philip, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, added, “The conference will also contribute to joint activities of several DAAD Global Centres for Climate and Environment as well as Global Centres for Health and Pandemics, by including relevant keynote addresses by leading experts from these Global Centres.”

This conference will render a specific focus on the novel technologies for climate change adaptation, and best practices to achieve the said goals, with a distinctive focus on governance and policy, which aids in the implementation of the above-arbitrated technologies and practices in real field conditions.

The following are the focus areas of the conference:

A. Novel Technologies for Climate Change Adaptation:

a. Water Treatment

b. Wastewater Treatment

c. Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse

d. Coastal Water Body and Infrastructure Protection

e. Waste Management and Resource Recovery

f. Reimagining the Traditional Knowledge

B. Best Practices:

a. Nature-Based Water Excess Management

b. Sustainable and Equitable Deficit Management

c. Risk Evaluation, Mapping, and Building Resilience

d. Water-Energy-Food Nexus

e. Adaptive Planning, Design, and Implementation of Water Infrastructure

C. Governance and Policy:

a. Financing Climate Resilient Water Infrastructure

b. Inclusive and Participatory Adaptation and mitigation Measures

c. Institutional Structures and Capacity Building

d. Examples of Good Governance

e. Socio-Economic Hydrology

f. Blue Economy

g. Transboundary and Conflict negotiation and agreements