The SELCO Foundation SDG7 for SDG8 Conference at IIM Bangalore (click here for the conf) happened yesterday 26 April 2019 and continues on 27th too.
SDG stands for Sustainable Development Goals 2015 formulated by United Nations in 2015 as part of the Paris Treaty on Climate Change to stall the global climate change and temperature increase to less than 2 deg Celsius by the turn of the century 2099 AD. (click here for the theme video for the conf..)
It was a great act by IIM Bangalore to host this Conference of global impact and on a very vital and important topic in their premises,. thanks to the intervention and support by the IIM Bangalore Director, Prof. Raghuram.
One thing striking was Harish's leadership style. a true leader, he leads from behind. It was really gratifying to find how his team members from around the country at different Foundation centres were leading the charge in bringing a change by linking sustainable energy to poverty eradication and lifestyle changes in the country, while Harish was behind them, giving full support and encouragement.
The IIMB conference sponsored by Selco Foundation was all about linking sustainable energy applications to poverty alleviation and lifestyle improvement models for the rural people of the country. There were many demonstrations arranged where people from rural areas came with their innovative solar energy based projects which helped improve lifestyles. for example cotton fibre collection to solar energy operated cotton loom to stitching ..., the entire cotton fibre-cloth-dress value chain ..
This is how we at Alliance University have shown our commitment to the UN SDG initiatives by conducting a No Impact Week to raise awareness among students to consciously strive to reduce their Carbon Footprints initially over a one week period and later intelligently act throughout their life .. (click here..)
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| Prof. G Raghuram, Director, IIMB, giving the inaugural talk. |
It was a great act by IIM Bangalore to host this Conference of global impact and on a very vital and important topic in their premises,. thanks to the intervention and support by the IIM Bangalore Director, Prof. Raghuram.
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| The Alliance Uty participants at the conf .. |
We could, besides listening to the Chairman of Selco Foundation, the 2011 Magsaysay Award winner, Harish Hande himself, (click here for a write up on Harish) an IIT KGP alumnus, see all the indigenous innovative product and service applications that were up on display at IIM Bangalore stalls, which had come from different parts of the country. All these societal livelihood enhancement interventions have happened thanks to intervention by Selco Foundation, led by Harish Hande.
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| The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals 2015 for the world to help curb climate change .. |
Another statement, which Harish has been repeating at different fora across the country is how fortunate we are to be educated, to be living and studying off the subsidy collected from the poor of the country.
He was very concerned about the fallacy of the English speaking people of the country assuming themselves to be more intelligent than the vernacular language speaking people and were snatching opportunities meant for them. Let us ask our conscience, are we not showing off intellectual snobbishness and snatching from and denying the intelligent vernacular language speaking people of this country the opportunities to excel in life ?
In one of his talks he was mentioning how at an IT company, as part of CSR, employees were registering to teach the students from the village schools while in return he asked them how they would feel if the village school children could in return teach them some life lessons !! Never underestimate the rural people, there are many Einsteins and Edisons down there, waiting for the right opportunities to be unearthed.
He was very concerned about the fallacy of the English speaking people of the country assuming themselves to be more intelligent than the vernacular language speaking people and were snatching opportunities meant for them. Let us ask our conscience, are we not showing off intellectual snobbishness and snatching from and denying the intelligent vernacular language speaking people of this country the opportunities to excel in life ?In one of his talks he was mentioning how at an IT company, as part of CSR, employees were registering to teach the students from the village schools while in return he asked them how they would feel if the village school children could in return teach them some life lessons !! Never underestimate the rural people, there are many Einsteins and Edisons down there, waiting for the right opportunities to be unearthed.
Listen to Harish speak (click here) at the Tata Centre for Technology and Design at IIT Bombay in 2018. Also his 2013 talk at an INK conference.. click here
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| Dr Harish Hande, BTech (IIT KGP), MS, PhD, UMass. 2011 Magsaysay Award winner, 2018 Skoll Award winner |
This is how we at Alliance University have shown our commitment to the UN SDG initiatives by conducting a No Impact Week to raise awareness among students to consciously strive to reduce their Carbon Footprints initially over a one week period and later intelligently act throughout their life .. (click here..)
We could get great value out of the conference and we are planning to invite Dr. Harish to the University in the month of July 2019.
George.
Truly awesome blog. our strength lies in diversity and sustainability . Sustainable thinking is the future and the only way to save our planet for us and generations to
ReplyDeletecome .
Yes, indeed it is. I was so fortunate to listen to Dr Harish yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
The conference was a great opportunity to connect with all the stake holders, including the end users of sustainable energy and sustainable livelihood. Sir, you are a keen observer and have well captured certain subtle details of the conference into your blog. I also like your style of writing.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much. It adds immense value to the participants who attended the conference.
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