UK-India: Building the ‘cities for the future’

Over the past year, the UK’s Science and Innovation Network in India, Research Councils UK India, DFID, British Council – India, and the Energy, Climate & Growth Unit have facilitated several collaborations between key stakeholders in India and the UK to promote bilateral research co-operation in the area of ‘Future Cities’. These stakeholders include academic institutions, industrial partners, government and the funding agencies.

Following up from the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor’s recent visit to India, we all are keen that we develop the UK-India relationship on a few strategic themes and ‘Future Cities’ is one of them. As the next step, we are organising this event with an aim to bring together UK stakeholders in future cities research and innovation to create a network with the Indian side which we would use a basis for our new strategic relationships with India on cities.

The discussion at the event will touch upon several sectors of urban development such as infrastructure, energy efficiency & security, green buildings, water treatment, waste management, greening cities, Sustainable urban mobility and renewable energy. What does the future hold for each sector? What has been achieved in the past years and what improvements are expected?

The workshop aims to:

• Convene diverse stakeholders -government, policymakers, academic institutions and experts -and provide an interactive platform to facilitate exchange of ideas
• Enable deliberation on the future course of action to build smart and sustainable cities in India.
• Form a UK-India Research and Innovation network on ‘Future Cities’ to take the agreed actions further.

The proposed themes for the workshop are as follows:

• Role of Design in Urban Planning and Development
• Joint research for Impact and Knowledge-based Policy Reform
• Role of Technology and its applications
• Green Buildings – How to reduce Water, Electricity and Energy demand.

In addition to knowledge sharing, the upcoming workshop provides also an excellent opportunity to network with members of the research and business communities.

Where and when?

The workshop will be held in new Delhi on the 24th and 25th February, so very soon.

Who should attend?

This event will bring together Indian authorities and social actors, global business industries and local Indian Industries, primary financial institutes and banks, Indian research institutions and the other relevant stakeholders interested in sustainability and smart city topics.

For registration, venue details or more information, please contact the team.