IIT Madras hosts conference on urban climate resilience; launches India Sustainability Report

The University of Toronto India Foundation (UTIF), in collaboration with IIT Madras’ School of Sustainability and University of Toronto’s School of Cities, inaugurated the two-day Cities of Care Conference at IIT Madras Research Park on Thursday, January 29.

The conference brought together over 90 global researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and funders to explore climate action through a water-food-waste systems lens. The event featured plenaries, three thematic research sessions, 15 research presentations, and a cross-sector panel connecting global and Indian perspectives on urban complexity.

At the conference, UTIF and sustainability-focused media platform REVOLVE released the Sustainable India 2025 Country Report, an overview of India’s sustainability and climate action developments across cities, states, and sectors.

“The lab-to-market journey is long and challenging. We need platforms like this educating researchers to work on real-world problems, enabling governments to create supportive policies and programs, and bringing businesses and academia together to identify challenges and fund applied research and technology development. It is equally important to educate investors to value impact metrics alongside financial returns,” said Indumathi M Nambi, Professor in Civil Engineering Department and School of Sustainability, IIT Madras, in an official release.

The conference addressed urgent challenges facing Indian cities.

According to the Towards Resilient and Prosperous Cities in India report, developed with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, India’s urban population is projected to nearly double to 951 million by 2050, requiring the construction of over 144 million new homes by 2070.

The Sustainable India 2025 report features on-the-ground sustainability updates, in-depth stories, expert interviews, photo essays, and key facts documenting climate action at national, state, and city levels. It includes a foreword by Gauravi Lobo, Country Head, UTIF, titled “No City Stands Alone: Reimagining Collaborative Urbanism.”

Speakers include Joseph Wong, Vice President (International), University of Toronto; Dr. Supriya Sahu, IAS, Secretary, Department of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Tamil Nadu; Isha Ray, Energy and Resource Group, UC Berkeley; Takayuki Hagiwara, FAO Representative in India; and Veena Srinivasan, Executive Director, WELL Labs Mission.