The Centre for Sustainable Habitat is established in the University in Late 2018
under Rashtriya Uchchattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) 2.0 Component 4 with a
budgetary provision of Rs. 10 Crore to propagate the agenda of sustainability in
education, living and professional practice. It attempts to demonstrate coexistence of
the natural and built environment in a way that reduces our planetary footprint,
emissions, resource consumption and waste, and improves quality of life for all. This
is done by integrating multi-faceted ecological, social, economic and cultural
perspectives together and translating into applied sciences, technology and most
importantly behavior. The Centre specializes in research towards comprehensive
understanding of environmental issues facing, but not limited to, the country. The
Centre has come up in line with the Sustainable Development Goals purposed by
United Nations for Quality Education, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and
Green Energy, Sustainable Cities and Communities and Climate Actions. The
Centre’s research and conduct interests are formed by four interconnected pillars i.e.
Sustainable Urbanism, Resilient Natural Systems, Green Enovation Systems and
Community for Sustainability. The Centre focuses on inter-disciplinary teaching,
research and training in the six tracks to address the key challenges of sustainable
habitat, environment and ecology, social economic characteristics to help in
formulating workable, achievable and rational planning and management policies
and strategies at the local and regional levels. The Centre’s resources provide ample
opportunities for hands-on learning through research and training programmes. The
Centre intends to introduce Certificate/ Diploma/ Degree/ Doctoral Degree/Post-
Doctoral, Faculty Development and outreach programmes in the times to come.
- Sustainable Urbanism: Our cities are undergoing enormous changes in the wake of urbanization. Addressing the changes in planning and architecture education and practices is key to sustainability in built environment. Research areas include low-impact habitat planning and design, de-carbonizing urban development, affordable housing, prioritizing adaptive comfort, resource efficiency and sufficiency, low-carbon mobility, smart planning and design tools, user-centric urbandesign
- Resilient Natural Systems: The capacity of natural systems to withstand the pressures
of economic growth is decreasing by the day. Understanding the impact of climate
change and human interference in hydro-geomorphological systems remains at the
core. Research aimed at climate adaptation, natural resource and biodiversity
conservation, vulnerability assessment, disaster management and risk reduction, GIS
and remote sensing applications to optimize resource flow and exchange in different
ecosystems.
- Green Innovation Systems: Twenty first century issues are dynamic and many a times
our policies and practical responses are not able to match pace. Evidence-based
research is capable to capture the dynamism to a large extent. Practical applications
and monitoring systems allow interpretation that feeds innovation. A green campus
initiative attempts to converge several applications in the campus such as renewable
energy (Solar) generation, green buildings, smart public bike sharing and e-rickshaw
ride hailing system, RFID-based no- vehicle policy and rainwater harvesting.
- Community for Sustainability: A large part of research’s aim is met with proactive
collaboration and dissemination. As sustainability concerns grow, more and more
professionals seek exposure to latest reforms and practices.