| Climate Change Event |
UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) organised a Climate Change event to further strengthen
and celebrate UK-India partnership on 21 November 2007 at British Council, New Delhi. The event showcased
Indo-UK linkages on climate change research and highlighted the innovations of various collaborative projects. Mr Rod Pryde, Regional Director, British Council (India and
Sri Lanka) welcomed the gathering.
Sir David King, FRS, Chief Scientific Advisor & Head of the Government Office for Science, UK delivered
the keynote address. It was followed
by an address by Dr P S Goel, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences and Prof Alan Thorpe, RCUK & Chief Executive, NERC.
Speaking on the occasion, Sir David King said, “I am delighted to be here. This is an extremely important event as international cooperation in the area of climate change is critical. We have through the UK-India Education and Research Initiative established a step-wise increase in the process of collaboration. Six large scale projects and 60 small scale projects are already underway with a very promising and meaningful start in multiple areas through this initiative.”
The ready willingness and keen interest shown by the scientists from both countries in forging a joint collaborative research on monsoon related modeling and impact issues has culminated in the development of a joint research programme on the 'Science of Regional Climate Change, Variability and Impacts'. This joint
UK-India research programme is
one of the six projects selected for funding under UKIERI Major Awards in 2006-07. It is being implemented by |
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University of Reading and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Pune.
Under the UKERI Standard Awards, a four-year project on 'Impact of Climate Change on the Water Cycle and Ecosystem Functioning at the River Basin Scale' has also been awarded. Partner institutions implementing the project include Institute for Sustainable Water, Integrated Management & Ecosystem Research, University of Liverpool and IIT Delhi (Department of Civil Engineering).
Speaking on the occasion, Dr P S Goel said, “I would like to thank the Government of UK for establishing this UKIERI initiative. Through the event this evening, we are showcasing our projects on climate change and giving them a boost. We are also setting up a climate change centre at IITM Pune and approvals within the Ministry of Earth Sciences are under way. This centre will support all researches and collaborations under the science of climate change”.
In his presentation, Prof Alan Thorpe focused on the theme of partnership and wished the initiative all success. It was followed by a panel discussion on |
'Addressing Climate Change through Collaborative Partnerships' chaired by Mr Rod Pryde. Eminent panelists included:
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Dr Clare Goodess – Research Manager, University of East Anglia |
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Prof B N Goswami – Director, Indian Institute for Tropical Meteorology Pune |
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Prof Edward Maltby – Director, SWIMMER - University of Liverpool |
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Prof A K Gosain – Head, Computer Service Centre & ACSS, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi |
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Dr Leena Srivastava – Executive Director, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) |
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Mr David Radcliffe – Department for International Development (DFID) |
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Mr Matt Coyne – Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
To mark the occasion, a 'Poster Display' of all projects under this initiative was held. |
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| UKIERI Goes to the Lords |
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 On 5 December 2007, UKIERI joined up with the Council for Education in the Commonwealth to put on a lecture by Prof Krishna Kumar, Director of the National Council for Educational Research and Training, India. Hosted in the Moses room of the House of Lords, the lecture covered 60 years of education in India since independence and demonstrated the benefits of bringing together the academic, governmental and business worlds.
UKIERI, now in its second year, is becoming a 'trust brand' as Tim Gore, UKIERI Project Manager, explained to a packed room in his introduction. The partnership has its core research programmes and exchanges in Higher Education, Professional Training and Skills but is becoming significant as a framework under which governments, institutions and corporate bodies are pushing forward the education agenda between India and the UK.
The mutuality angle of UKIERI programme is something that sets it apart from other research funding programmes. As India and the UK both struggle to find their feet in the new globalised world, the emphasis which UKIERI brings is on building relationships of equality and establishing trust between researchers and departments in universities, colleges of further education and schools. The mobility of researchers and students who spend time getting to know each other's work and cultures results in a richer engagement – one which is more sustainable for the future.
Prof Kumar's talk touched upon important issues – the role of education in achieving unity, democracy and prosperity in modern India, and the challenges imposed by our ever-growing management culture. The evening was chaired by Lord Judd of Portsea who echoed Prof Kumar's refrain of 'Where have all the teachers gone', as class time is increasingly taken up with monitoring teachers' performance rather than challenging pupils to learn. Lord Judd also spoke of his appreciation to the academic and commercial spheres for the manner in which they have come together to make the UKIERI programme possible. |
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