Guwahati, Sep 21: A day-long workshop on climate change held in the campus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) here focused on the multiple implications of climate change on human society.
The Centre for Ecology, Environment and Sustainable Development (CEESD), School of Social
Sciences and Humanities, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Guwahati Campus, in
collaboration with the Assam Climate Change Management Society (ACCMS), Government of Assam, organised the workshop.
Eighty participants from different universities, institutes and organisations, such as Gauhati University, St. Edmunds College, Shillong, Assam State Disaster Management Authority, and TISS, Guwahati Campus, participated in the workshop.
Dr. Ritusmita Goswami, CEESD Faculty, introduced the esteemed guests and resource persons of the
workshop. The inaugural session began with the welcome address by Dr. Namita Brahma, Chairperson, CEESD, followed by the opening remarks by Rizwan Uz Zaman, Technical Consultant,ACCMS.
Prof. Kalpana Sarathy, Deputy Director, TISS, Guwahati Campus, in her inaugural session flagged
multiple implications of climate change on human society. She emphasized that climate change or disasters can lead to various forms of mental health disturbances and a range of psychotic illnesses.
The opening remarks and the inaugural address set the context of the workshop and alarmed a series of critical issues of climate change requiring more comprehensive deliberations and discussions.
Prof. Anamika Baruah, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of
Technology, Guwahati, Ms. Arundhati Deka, ACCMS and Mr. Rizwan Uz Zaman, ACCMS, were
the resource persons for technical sessions.
Prof. Anamika Baruah focussed on broader issues of risks, sensitivity and vulnerability of climate change in the context of Northeast India. Ms. Arundhati Deka discussed the impact of climate change on social development.
Rizwan Uz Zaman dealt with the global and national policy responses to climate change. All technical sessions were followed by participants’ interactions with resource persons, where some of the critical issues of climate change were pondered upon, requiring the government’s commitment and the active involvement of various stakeholders. Dr. Abhinandan Saikia moderated the technical and interactive sessions.
At the end of the technical and interactive sessions, group activity was assigned to the participants on five themes – (i) Agriculture (ii) Water (iii) Health (iv) Renewable Energy and (v) Environment and Forest.
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