Indian Institute of Technology Madras is hosting a ‘Global water and Climate Adaptation Centre’ being established with support from a German Government Agency to tackle the global challenges of water security and adaptation to a changing climate. 

IIT Madras will host the main hub with a satellite hub coming up at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok. It was inaugurated on 30th June 2021 in a virtual event in the presence of eminent dignitaries from IIT Madras and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

This centre is being formed by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and is being set up in collaboration with the German institutes of Technical University of Dresden and RWTH Aachen University. This Centre is named ‘ABCD’ (Aachen-Bangkok-Chennai-Dresden).

With its geographical reach of four major cities, the Centre represents a strategic expansion of existing networks between leading German and Asian universities under a common thematic umbrella. 

The Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre is intended to work as an enabling platform that incentivizes, bundles and magnifies further joint action in higher education, research, technology and knowledge transfer. The Centre is being led by Prof. S.A. Sannasiraj, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras. 

This would complement IIT Madras’ expertise on the adaptation and rehabilitation measures of coastal infrastructures. Further, the vulnerability and risk assessment with the regional social framework provides a platform for planners to take a call on decision-making along with policymakers.

To achieve the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre will pursue comprehensive goals to protect the planet from degradation while sustainably managing its resources. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #6 is intended to ensure ‘availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.’ Thus, the Centre would strive to consider these interlinkages to better understand the social, economic and environmental dimensions.” 

The project partners share the understanding that science-based solutions and global innovation networks must go hand-in-hand with local and global stakeholders through dialogue. Hence, the Centre strives to act as an inter-and transdisciplinary platform for a science-based global dialogue and exchange on water security and climate adaptation. The transdisciplinary approach is expressed in the notion of a living lab that facilitates interactions with stakeholders in society.