Seminar on Green Sense: Sustainability Guidelines in Built Environment organized at GNDU

Amritsar, March 27 (Punjab Post Bureau) – The Faculty of Physical Planning and Architecture of Guru Nanak Dev University in collaboration with Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi organized a seminar on Green Sense: Sustainability Guidelines in Built Environment. About 200 scholars were participated in the seminar. The seminar was organized with the objective of furthering sustainable habitat movement to reduce the impacts of planned infrastructures in built environment and strengthening curriculum of planning and architecture by incorporating such dimensions.

Ms. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director, CSE delivered the keynote address. She provided an overview of issues concerning urbanization, building construction and energy use with a special focus on developmental challenges in built sector. She highlighted that the India has still to build 70 per cent of its building stock and there still exist opportunities to be more sustainable. She stressed on the role of transport in polluting the air and making the human settlements less liveable and unsustainable.

Dr. T. S. Banipal, Director Research was the chief guest. He emphasized upon the importance of sustainable habitat development and the need to evolve supportive curriculums to achieve its objectives. He congratulated the Faculty of Physical Planning and Architecture and Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi for getting into an agreement for three years to train the faculty and students in different aspects of sustainable habitat. He stressed on including the sustainable habitat guidelines in the course curricula of the Planning and Architecture Departments of the University.

Dean, Faculty of Planning and Architecture, Dr. Karamjit Singh Chahal also stressed upon the need to inculcate sustainable architecture and planning paradigms. Two technical sessions were held wherein the speakers, Mr Rajneesh Sarin, Programme Director, Sushmita Sengupta and Swati Singh Sambyal, Programme Managers, CSE elaborated on reaching sustainability in the built environment, sustainable water management and solid waste management. Head, Planning Department, Ms. Kiran Sandhu, welcome the delegates of the seminar, while Head Architecture Department, Ms. Minakshi, proposed vote of thanks to the delegates of the seminar.