SPECIAL FEATURE I World Wetlands Day
Wetlands International South Asia (WISA) marked World Wetlands Day on 2nd February 2025 with an event highlighting the benefits of wetlands and their role in human well-being. Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Hon’ble Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Former Union Minister, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Government of India, addressed the gathering as the Chief Guest. WISA launched a training manual on water quality monitoring which discusses effective techniques and strategies through global examples and urges the need for healthy wetlands management. The module is useful for conservationists, policymakers, researchers, practitioners as well as citizens.??
NbS4India Research Program: Inception Workshop?
The Forum is facilitating the second edition of its Research Program, which kicked off with a research inception?workshop on 25th February at WRI India. The winning teams - Alt Surya and Sehreeti Developmental Practices Foundation (in collaboration with CMSR Consultants Pvt Ltd ) presented their research on the two topics outlined for the year, ‘Procurement guidelines’ and ‘MEL frameworks and standards’ for adoption and scale-up of urban NbS. Their presentations were followed by a feedback session from a group of technical research advisors and other participants.?
International Workshop on Heat Wave 2025?
Under the Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction (CoDRR), the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)INDIA organized a two-day 'International Workshop on Heat Wave 2025' on 13th – 14th February 2025, in collaboration with National Research Development Corporation (NRDC), Strategic Forces Command (SFC), Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and UNEP, around the theme 'Advancing City-Level Heat Action Plans: Multi-Sectoral Adaptation for Creating Resilient Communities'.?
Mr. Vishwas Chitale, Senior Programme Lead, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), joined the panel in the technical session on 'Heat Action Plans – An Indian Perspective'. He highlighted the key barriers municipalities face in preparation, implementation and monitoring, especially concerning data, finance and the lack of awareness about the multi-sectoral impacts of extreme heat.?
UPCOMING EVENTS AND UPDATES?
Webinar Series??
This three-part webinar series is being co-organized by UrbanShift, Cities4Forests and WRI India.?Blue and green infrastructure are increasingly being used by cities as innovative, adaptable and low-cost approaches with multiple co-benefits that can build resilience to urban heat and flooding. These webinars will highlight effective community-driven, data and evidence-based technological approaches to NbS, with case studies on NbS for heat and water resilience across different urban forms and long-term interventions, policies and plans that can be adopted at a city-scale.?
5 March | Webinar 2: NbS to Tackle Extreme Heat in Cities?
Urban heat is a growing existential challenge in cities around the world. Rapid urbanization has led to increased impervious surfaces and loss of green cover that exacerbates urban heat and manifests in additional challenges such as increased stormwater runoff and biodiversity loss. Rapid urbanization has led to increased impervious surfaces and loss of green cover that exacerbates heat and adds to challenges of stormwater runoff and biodiversity loss. This session will cover methods to identify heat hotspots and challenges in cities.??
26 March | Webinar 3: NbS to Mitigate Urban Flooding?
Urban floods are one of the biggest climate risks for growing urban centres, causing loss of life, infrastructure damage and increased health risks. Drinking water shortages during dry months have become more frequent and severe. The webinar focuses on actions needed to holistically target water security in both wet and dry months.???
WELL Labs Joins the India Forum for Nature-based Solutions?
We are thrilled that Water, Environment, Land and Livelihoods (WELL) Labs at the Institute?for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) has joined the India Forum for Nature-based Solutions as an institutional partner. WELL Labs co-creates research and innovation for social impact in the areas of land and water sustainability. They design and curate systemic, science-based solutions using a collaborative approach to enable a high quality of life for people while nurturing the environment. WELL Lab’s inclusion strengthens our collaboration to help scale up the adoption of NbS to shape climate resilient cities and communities in India. Welcome, WELL Labs!?
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