Sustainable Development

The DWIH conference on "CityScapes" was held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi from 29th September 2016 to 1st October 2016. The concept of CityScapes Conference was to address the various harmonious solutions to tackle the global challenges of migration and sustainable urbanization. The keynote speech of the Conference was delivered by University of Cologne Professor, Prof. Dr Frauke Kraas, Department of Geography. Amongst the other panel sessions, University of Cologne participated in the following panels: SESSION 2: Smart Energy & Construction Prof. Dr Amitabh Banerji, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Didactics, University of Cologne SESSION 3: IMPACT OF URBANISATION ON ENVIRONMENT Prof. Dr Shamita Kumar, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune SESSION 5: FOR A FUTURE SUSTAINABLE PERI-URBAN INDIA Prof. Dr N.

For over 60 years, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been working jointly with partners in India for sustainable economic, ecological, and social development. Currently, GIZ has over 340 employees in India, of whom 70 per cent are national personnel.

India is fast emerging as an economic and industrial power. It is a member of the ‘Group of Twenty’ (G20) as well as one of the five major emerging national economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). Despite the country’s rapidly growing economy, poverty and other socio-economic issues remain a challenge. The burgeoning population and accelerated urbanisation in the country have resulted in an environment at risk and greenhouse gas emissions that continue to spiral upwards.

The focal areas of Indo-German cooperation currently are:

German House of Research and Innovation organized its annual conference ‘Cityscapes’ at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, between September 29-October 1. HCSA coordinated the panels under the overarching theme of ‘City and Migration’. The panels covered two broad categories analysing politics and society, including such topics as policies, economy, labour migration, security, law and order, skill development, unemployment, political rights and duties (i.e., political integration) etc.; as well as education, citizens’ participation, inclusion/integration vs gentrification/ghettoization, youth and ageing in urban South Asia, etc. The panels consisted of experts from Germany, India as well as other South Asian countries. Over three hundred 300 (2 days) scholars, experts and practitioners from Germany and India, from both public and private sector, discussed on the multifaceted topic of urbanization. Heidelberg University was represented by Prof.

Prof. Ranjit Mitra from the School for Planning and Architecture Delhi, is on a short term Guest lecture visit to Institute of Geography, at the University of Cologne, in October and November 2016.

The topics of lectures include Perspectives of Urbanism in India, Critical Development of Urban Policies in India, Communalism and Social Change in India, The Indian Growth Scenario: Ecological Consequences and Policies.

More information can be found at: http://india.uni-koeln.de/cmisnews2.html