IGNOU chair on sustainable development to take up field studies

New Delhi, Oct 21 (UNI) The newly created Chair for sustainable development in the Indira Gandhi National Open University would undertake Action Education programme in five major ecosystems of the country in order to build training material based on field studies.

The five agro-economic regions are hill, semi-arid, coastal and irrigated areas.

The Chair would also undertake capacity building in new areas of Sustainabiliy Science which would include creation of various courses and training programmes for all levels of scientists and decision-makers.

It would also provide inputs for national policies on sustainable development to various government decision-making bodies and agencies based on Action Research and field studies.

IGNOU VC Prof V N Rajasekharan Pillai and head of the Chair Prof M S Swaminathan said the setting up of the Chair would give a new momentum to the national movement for sustainable development, in which large-scale public interest has been generated, due to widespread environmental concerns at the local and global levels, especially in the context of climate change due to global warming caused by human activities.

Besides education and capacity building, the Chair will support and organise public education programmes through IGNOU resources, including Gyan Darshan, Gyan Vani and other mass media options.

A National Core Committee for the Chair has been constituted with high-level representatives from major government and non-government organisations, including the Planning Commission, Ministry of Information, The Energy resource Institute(TERI), Centre for Science and Environment, Development Alternatives and International Development Research Centre.

UNI