Category: Research

As part of the India-EU Partnership, this workshop took place on 17 – 18 April, focusing on river rejuvenation, especially Chennai’s Cooum River. It was a pleasure being invited to join the EU Delegation for a talk on “Potentials of Adaptive Capacity for River Rejuvenation in Chennai: A socio-ecological Systems perspective.” The two-day event saw representatives from the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department and several research institutions, like Anna University in Chennai, interacting with experts from the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, and Germany. A wide range of relevant topics was discussed, including potential solutions covering nature-based approaches, governance and participation, groundwater and traditional water management systems, and the relevance of the current review for the third master plan of the Chennai metropolitan region.

For more information, you can read the full article at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/water-resources-department-looking-for-technical-support-funding-from-eu/article66767495.ece

Dr. Christoph Woiwode, Resident Visiting Faculty in the IGCS Landuse Area at IIT Madras, is now a part of a consortium of ten faculty members establishing an interdisciplinary Research Centre at IIT Madras in “Water and Sustainability.”

In its initial phase of three years, the starting financial endowment of the center will be close to 600,000 Euros for the establishment of its research program with a focus on achieving water, carbon, and nutrient circularity in urbanizing transformations. Dr. Woiwode will be co-leading with Prof Chella Rajan on the socio-political component of water and land-use governance to provide research about the water-food-energy nexus.

A core methodological design approach of the center is applying a transdisciplinary research design within the framework of real-world/living labs to produce solution-oriented and relevant outcomes toward sustainable and climate-resilient urban agglomerations in the Global South. This builds on previous research carried out on periurbanization in Chennai.

The Nook project will have an exhibition of works done by the learners so far this Sunday.

The Indo-German Centre for Sustainability (IGCS) conducts research on current sustainability challenges and disseminates the knowledge generated. Infact their work at Katchipdu community near Chennai in Tamil Nadu focuses on environmental protection regarding water resources, energy, land use, rural development and waste management, and aims to develop the capacity and capability to promote sustainable development.

We are happy to announce our newest Nook in Chennai (near Katchipedu) in collaboration with IGCS. Join us for a special FACEBOOK Live session with Dr. Christoph Woiwode, Urban Planner & Anthropologist, Visiting faculty with IGCS at IIT Madras; Ms. Uthra Radhakrishnan, Senior Project Officer with IGCS at IIT Madras and Dr. Christoph Neusiedl, Chairman, Initiative for New education as they examine sustainability in education from a research lens.

Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Time: 6-7 PM IST

Where: @ProjectDefy on Facebook

Dr. Christoph Woiwode, RWTH Aachen University and IGCS Visiting Faculty at IIT Madras, together with Bangalore-based non-profit organisation Project DEFY and the German-based association Initiative für Neue Bildung e.V. were awarded a three-year grant by the Hans Hermann Voss-Stiftung to create a “Nook” self-designed learning centre near Chennai. By building on IGCS’s Periurban Initiative and the ongoing Peri-Cene Project about Chennai’s periurbanization processes, the Chennai Nook incorporates an action research component to integrate sustainability with the learning process and learners-led projects such as community gardening, or repair and recycling. Read more here.

The following images are illustrations of the workings of the previous Nook location: