IIT Madras hosts Water Security and Climate Adaptation conference

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology Madras is hosting a Water Security and Climate Adaptation (WSCA) Conference from October 4 to October 7, 2023. The conference is being coordinated by the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (ABCD Centre) in the Institute.

The conference focuses on highlighting the importance of sustainability in water-related problems and emphasising its need to scientists, engineers, policymakers and industries.

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The purpose of this conference is to share knowledge and expertise on how to adopt best practises in connection to climate change adaptation and water security. In order to get the country closer to achieving the goals for sustainable development and effective management of water resources, research initiatives in this area are being advanced.

The DAAD Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre's goal is to address the problems of "Water Security and Climate Adaptation" through education, research, and training. In order to enable sustainable solutions for climate adaption, this will facilitate transfer and integrate science with policy and the private sector.

Addressing the inaugural session today, Chief Guest 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 the stress-free water availability in the coming decades”

Professor T Balasubramanian stressed upon the need for spreading the awareness on avoiding polluting water. Conference Chair SA Sannasiraj, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, said that the focus of the Conference theme is the strategy ofAdaptation and Mitigation through Sustainable Development to address the 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 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, Prof. Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras,highlightedthe role of IIT Madras in addressing the water scarcity and in particular highlighting the zero liquid waste disposal within IIT campus that leads to less maintenance costs.

Speaking about the conference, coordinator 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.”

With a distinct focus on governance and policy, which aid in the implementation of the above-arbitrated technologies and practises in actual field conditions, this conference will render a specific focus on the novel technologies for climate change adaptation, and best practises to achieve the said goals.

The following are the focus areas of the conference-

A. Novel Technologies for Climate Change Adaptation:

• Water Treatment
• Wastewater Treatment
• Reduce, Recycle and Reuse
• Coastal Water Body and Infrastructure Protection
• Waste Management and Resource Recovery
• Re-imagining the Traditional Knowledge

B. Best Practices:

• Nature Based Water Excess Management
• Sustainable and Equitable Deficit Management
• Risk Evaluation, Mapping and Building Resilience
• Water-Energy-Food Nexus
• Adaptive Planning, Design, and Implementation of Water Infrastructure

C.Governance and Policy:

• Financing Climate Resilient Water Infrastructure
• Inclusive and Participatory Adaptation and mitigation Measures
• Institutional Structures and Capacity Building
• Examples of Good Governance
• Socio-Economic Hydrology
• Blue Economy
• Transboundary and Conflict negotiation and agreements