WRI India’s Post

A first-of-its-kind program led by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Smart Cities Mission, the #NurturingNeighbourhoodsChallenge, (NNC) supported by the Van Leer Foundation with WRI India as the technical partner, successfully enabled 10 Indian cities to embed the young-children-and-caregiver-friendly approach in urban development. By identifying seven key strategies towards building capacities, partnerships, institutionalization, seeking funding, implementing solutions, and informing policy level changes, the Challenge has enabled 10 cities to setup systems and processes to sustain this approach in the long-term. These strategies can further help other cities to create nurturing environments for young children and their caregivers. Our new blog ‘Reimagining Cities for Young Children in India: Seven Key Strategies’ in Cities4Children - The Global Alliance written by WRI India's Sree Kumar Kumaraswamy, Madhura Kulkarni and Chaitali Patil, highlights key learnings from this approach. 👉 To know more visit- https://bit.ly/3xOGGQk

A capacity building workshop was recently hosted by MayaPRAXIS - India Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Head Office regarding the High-Density Corridors (HDC) Program in Bengaluru. The workshop focused on explaining the design, implementation process, intent of the HDC manual and to address the concern of stakeholders. It was attended by BBMP engineers, PMC consultants, Suraksha 75 consultants, contractors and sub-contractors.   B.S. Prahallad, the Engineer in Chief, BBMP, emphasized the need for more such programs and expressed the vision of making Bengaluru safe, inclusive, and resilient through the HDC program. The HDC program aims to develop 192km of identified arterial and sub-arterial roads in Bengaluru, Phase-1 being 92kms.   Srinivas Alavilli and Chetan Sodaye from WRI India presented best practices on Road Safety including the safer systems approach, and principles of road safety and road safety design elements using global case studies and local citywide research.    #StreetDesign #SaferByDesign #RoadSafety #WRIRoadSafety #BBMP

Housing is a crucial entry point to improving quality of life and economic opportunities, acting as a catalyst for developing other essential urban services. Towards that end, the Sustainable Cities program of WRI India, along with partners, recently hosted the first-ever India edition of REHOUSE (Resilient, Equitable Housing, Opportunities and Urban Services) in New Delhi.   REHOUSE 2024 gave us the opportunity to share our work and understanding of resilient, affordable housing and bridging the urban services gap for vulnerable communities. It also gave us the invaluable opportunity to engage with, and learn from, researchers, solutions providers, and subject experts, on the existing provisioning of housing. The discussion helped us distill strategies for how best to improve the living conditions of residents in urban informal settlements and other precarious housing through on-ground solutions, informed decision making and long-term collaboration. WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities | Mahila Housing Trust | Habitat for Humanity Asia-Pacific | Build Change | (SDI. (Slum Dwellers International) | BRAC  

Congratulations to the first cohort of #EquiMobilityChampions! We are thrilled to have you with us on our education and mentorship journey to strengthen and promote gender-inclusive mobility systems in India. We look forward to sharing your unique perspectives in augmenting our collective knowledge and amplifying our voices to build inclusive and equitable mobility systems for all. #WomenOnTheMove #WomenInTransport #GenderMainstreaming #Inclusion  #AccessibleTransport #Decarbonisation Chaitanya Kanuri

Uttar Pradesh (UP) has been at the forefront of EV adoption in India, emerging as a leader in hybrid and electric vehicle sales in 2023. In the first six months of 2024, 1,53,214 EVs were registered in the state, marking a 29% increase compared to the same period in 2023 (January-June 2023). The state is now gearing up for a concerted thrust in driving e-mobility adoption across all modes, with a focus on establishing robust charging infrastructure.   What sets Uttar Pradesh’s e-mobility journey apart is its emphasis on decarbonizing last-mile solutions, which comprises electric three-wheelers (e-3Ws). Electric rickshaws are at the heart of this decarbonization journey, constituting 95.6% of the total e-3Ws sold between 2015 and June 2024, and accounting for almost 74% of all EVs in the state.    Under the UP EV Manufacturing and Mobility Policy 2022, the state government is offering e-3W purchase incentives of 15%, up to INR 12,000 per unit. The incentive, applicable for the first 50,000 buyers, aims to further accelerate the e-3W uptake in the state.      Follow #EMAPS to know more about Uttar Pradesh’s electric mobility journey. #EVMatters #UttarPradesh #ElectricVehicles   Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation ( Uppcl ) | Directorate of Environment | CM Office, GoUP | UPNEDA | Pawan Mulukutla | Chaitanya Kanuri | Diksha Choudhary | Yash Pratap Singh | Mitasha duggal | Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation | Swati Pathak | Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation

We are thrilled to announce the opening of applications for the Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Awards and Exhibition, highlighting innovative NbS initiatives demonstrating impact. Why Participate? ➡  The best entries will be felicitated with awards at our inaugural flagship summit on 6th August in New Delhi. Additionally, they will be featured in all Forum communications such as the official website, newsletter and other communication material ➡ Two entries from each category will get the chance to present their work at the PechaKucha session. ➡ All shortlisted entries will get a chance to exhibit their work at an all-day exhibition event at the Summit. To know more and apply –> https://lnkd.in/g7qTUu8h #NbS4India Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs | Caterpillar Inc. | WRI India | India Climate Collaborative |  Cities4Forests | C–Cube | National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) | GIZ India | The Nature Conservancy | Wetlands International | WWF-India | Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) | Jaya Dhindaw | Lubaina Rangwala | Priya Narayanan | Aarathi K. | Harshil Suresh | Shaurya M. | Prerna Vijaykumar Mehta | Shruti Maliwar | Ambika Malhotra | Vaishnavi T G Shankar |  Victor Shinde | Rajiv Mishra | Vishwas Chitale PhD | Dr. Sudipto Chatterjee | Dhruv Verma | Ritesh Kumar |    Ravi Prakash | Rishika Das Roy | Vibhor Sood | Liju Mathew | Todd Gartner | James Anderson | Jasmeet S. | Keya M. | Padma Venkataraman | Soma Biswas| Kevin Valsan Hymavathy

WRI India, in collaboration with Agra Nagar Nigam (ANN), recently commenced a capacity building and sensitization workshop series on ‘Open Waste Burning and Air Pollution’ for Safai Karamcharis and Sanitary Supervisors from various zones of the city.  The first workshop in the series was attended by 36 personnel from Lohamandi Zone. Key takeaways were:  ➡ Need to improve coordination between Safai Sevaks and contractors for garbage collection   ➡ Importance of citizens reporting waste burning incidents via helpline and identifying hotspots  ➡ Creating mass awareness on the health impact of waste burning and enforcement of penal actions      WRI India is providing technical assistance to ANN under the Accelerator for Clean Air Actions (ACAAS) initiative and is supporting the city with formulation and implementation of air quality management solutions and policies, improving data-based decision making, and building capacity of stakeholders.  Know more about the Accelerator here: http://bit.ly/43JWT38    #AirQuality #WasteBurning #CleanAirForAll #AirPollution #ACAAS #AirPollutionAwareness #TogetherForCleanAir Bhavay Sharma | Prakash Doraiswamy | Prayash Giria | Pawan Mulukutla | Madhav Pai | Kaustubh Chuke

As a precursor to #MSME Day, WRI India organized a webinar on the policy and finance interventions required for SMEs’ clean #energytransition. The webinar saw eminent speakers representing the public sector, financial institutions, civil society and research organizations, sharing their perspectives on how we can support #MSMEs with adopting cleaner energy pathways.    ▶ Jarnail Singh, Deputy Director, India, MacArthur Foundation ▶Sanjeev Chawla, Director, MSME Development Institute, Haryana ▶Girja Shankar Charan, General Manager, Energy Efficiency Services Limited ▶Neha Mudaliar, Senior Vice President & Head, Climate Financing, Northern Arc Capital ▶MANI LAL CHAUDHARY, Regional Manager, SIDBI(Small Industries Development Bank of India) ▶Ashim Roy, Program Lead – Energy Finance, WRI India ▶T S Gowthami TS, Senior Program Associate – Energy, WRI India   🔗 View the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/dY2pRDNM Abhishek Bhardwaj | Deepak Krishnan | Kajol . | Bharath Jairaj | Niharika Tagotra (Dr.) (PhD)

The Bengaluru Climate Action Plan (BCAP) has maintained a strong momentum over the past few months, with city-wide discussion and coordination among stakeholders. Anchored by the Bengaluru Climate Action Cell, these discussions "tell us where we are, to be further able to inform existing practices and resource allocations with the knowledge and evidence coming from BCAP,” says Shrimoyee Bhattacharya. She shares insights on how the plan empowers city governments and local actors in this article by R Krishnakumar for the Deccan Herald. Read here: https://bit.ly/4f4K9uW The BCAP envisions a just, resilient, inclusive, and equitable future for the wellbeing of all residents. Shrimoyee Bhattacharya and Praseeda Mukundan explore the many dimensions of this framework, answering commonly asked questions about its formulation and scope. Dive into '10 Facts to Better Understand the Bengaluru Climate Action and Resilience Plan' here: https://bit.ly/3yzyuTV #BangaloreClimateActionCell #ClimateFirstBengaluru #SustainableCities #BCAP Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) | Shubha Ramachandran | Satya Arikutharam | Madhav Pai  | Jaya Dhindaw | C40 Cities | Sahana Goswami | Priya Narayanan  

Vivek Venkataramani recently shared his experience-based opinion with Industrial Economist Magazine, on the way forward for adaptation investments in India. This was for the IE July 2024 issue that focused on the impact of climate on the Indian economy. It looks at issues varying from major climate-related challenges that India faces, vulnerable sectors, key action required at the national, state, and local levels to accelerate adaptation actions, policy and institutional changes and roles to be played by key stakeholders in this landscape of adaptation-related investments. #climateresilience #climateadaptation #climateimpact