TWO WEEK ISTE WORKSHOP ON “ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES”
2nd to 12th June, 2015
A two weeks ISTE workshop on Environmental Studies was organized at Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurgaonfrom 2nd to 12th June, 2015 under the National Mission on Education through ICT (MHRD, Govt. of India). This workshop was conducted by IIT Bombay through online video conferencing. Dr. Mukta Atrey & Prof. Virender Sethi was the convener of the program. This workshop was coordinated with IIT Bombay by the Remote Center Coordinator, Dr. Jitender Kumar, Workshop Coordinator, Mr. Rajesh Mattoo.
On 2nd June, 2015 Dr. Deepak B Phatak, Electrical Engineering Department, IIT Bombay addressed the participants and explained about the mission and objective of The National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technologies (NMEICT). Then Prof. Kannan Modgalya explained the objective of course and basic concept of Environmental studies. Prof. Virendra Sethi discussed on “Air Pollution” with real time examples from different domains. He also conducted a quiz session based on the topic. Prof. Nikhil Kothurkar spoke about “Sustainable Development”explaining about pool resources, production and significance of protecting and expanding pool resources. He said that there is a need to solve the interconnected problems and find out the common reasons for social & Environmental problems.
On 3rd June, 2015 the, Prof. Virendra Sethi started the discussion on clean air, pollutant concentration and identifying the key source of pollution. He gave a brief lecture on “Dispersion - Gaussian Plume Model” where he discussed about the ground concentration of pollutants coming from a chimney. Prof. Nikhil Kothurkar discussed about “Water Resources”.He explained the reasons of per capita availability of water declining so rapidly and about the various social and environmental problems He ended his session by discussing about water shed management and Flood management.
On 4th June, 2015 Prof. Nikhil Kothurkar lectured on Energy Resources, their depletion and the future risks involved with such rapid depletion. He also discussed about country wise per capita CO2 emission and the pros and cons of using coal and the negative impact of using nuclear energy. Prof. D. Parthasarathy delivered a lecture on “Social Issues and The Environment”. In his lecture he discussed about Pedagogy, Sustainable Development, Justice and Values and about Population. He said that conservation or protection of Environment merely won’t help but social conflicts around natural resources has to be stopped immediately to maintain a balance in the environment so that socio-economic developments can be obtained.
On 5th June, 2015 Prof. Nikhil Kothurkar highlighted on “Food Resources”. He discussed Food and Health related issues in India and the possible threats on Future Food Security. He discussed on “Food Distribution” and emphasized on Wars, Food Miles, Market Facilities and Management of Food Distribution. Then Prof. D.Parthasarathy discussed about Social Issues, Environment, Values and Justice, Population Issues, Equity, Gender, and Urbanization.
On 6th June, 2015 Prof. Virendra Sethi discussed on Air Quality. He explained about measuring of size and concentration of particulate matter. Prof. Munish Chandel started the session on “Waste Management” explaining about Municipal Solid Waste management System. (MSW), biomedical waste management, electronic waste management and Global Warming – Green Technologies. Prof. D. Parthasarathy highlighted on issues like equity in access of justice and conflicts over resources.
On 8th June, 2015 the participants had a question- answer session with the experts. Prof. D. Parthsarthy took an Audio Visual session on “Environment and Society”. Prof. Munish Chandel conducted session on “Waste Management”.
On 9th June, 2015 Prof. Munish Chandel started the session on Global Warming and climate Change. and explained Green House Effect. It was followed by Prof. K. Narayanan on “Environmental Economics”. He also discussed environmental issues including - scientific, economic, aesthetic, and ethical dimensions. Then Prof. Virendra Sethi carried out his session on“Air Pollutions”.
From 10th June to 12th June 2015 Prof. Harish Phulerial lectured on “Water pollutions”. He discussed on:
1. Newer Needs of Water Treatment and sharing knowledge on Pharmaceutically Active Chemicals (PhACs), Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) and Disinfection by - Products (DBPs).
2. How is water polluted by industry and what step should be taken to control water pollutions.
3. Water usage, contaminants in Water and Surface Water Quality Impairment.
Prof. Ranjan Panda’s topic of discussion was on “Environmental Ethics”. He discussed about
1. Responsibilities of people in maintaining the ecosystems so that sustainable resource can be yielded for a long time.
2. Environmental ethics
3. Various Human-Wildlife Conflicts
Prof. K. Narayanan‘s topic was on environmental economics in which he discussed various Political Economy Research Center and Laws.
Prof. Shyam Asolekar discussed on the topic “Law and Policy”.
The participants learned a lot from the workshop and in the feedback session they enthusiastically gave their positive opinions.