XAVIER UNIVERSITY ORGANISED ANNUAL RESEARCH ON CITIES SUMMIT
Bureau,Odishabarta
Bhubaneswar:Xavier School of Human Settlements (XAHS), Xavier University Bhubaneswar (XUB) organised its 4th Annual Research on Cities Summit (ARCS) on 7th and 8th February, 2020 with the theme being”Cities for People: Policies, Plans and Programs”.
Day 1 began with the inaugural address by Dr. Prof. KajriMisra (Dean, XAHS),Fr. E.A.Augustine, S.J. (Registrar, XUB), Prof. Fr. Dr. Antony Uvari S.J. (Vice Chancellor, XUB), and Shri G. MathiVathanan, Comm & Principal Secretary (DHUD, Odisha) who spoke about the key urban issues and how the Governmentof Odisha is addressing them by paving way for inclusive governance. The special guest for the event, Dr. Ali Alrouf (VP,International Society of City and Regional Planners)(Professor, Hamad Bin Khalifa University,Qatar) spoke about the global urban issues and the role of India in contributing to address the issues. The keynote address for the conference was delivered by Shri S.C.Behar (Former Chief Secretary, Madhya Pradesh) who spoke about the importance of social and cultural space in urban planning.
The Plenary Roundtable 1 had the theme: Citizen Engagement in Governance which comprised of Smt. Tara Krishnaswamy, Shri Jagadanand, AkhilaSivadas and Sapna Karim as the panelists and Shri Raghunandan as the moderator. The theme for the second Plenary Roundtable wasPeople and Sustainable Urban Mobility which comprised of Shri Arun Bothra, Andrea Blumeland Stefan Bakker as panelists and Prof. Mayank Dubey as the moderator.Knowledge Systems for Sustainable Cities was the theme for the third Plenary Roundtable which comprised of Prof. DarshiniMahadevia, Prof. Ashok Kumar and Prof. KajriMisra as the panelists and Prof. Tathagata Chatterji as the moderator. There were technical sessions held during the evening with the themes being Institutions and Actors in Urban Governance having Dr. T.R.Raghunandan as the Chair, Environmental Risks and Resilience having Prof. Dr. Anil Kr. Roy as the Chair, Urban Transformation, Place making and Cultural heritage having Prof. Shraddha Kumar as the Chair, Infrastructure Network and Sustainability having Prof. Dr. Ali Alrouf as the Chair and Land and Livelihood having Prof. AtanuChatterji as the Chair. The first day ended with a fun-filled cultural night.
Day 2 began with the Plenary Session of theme: Rethinking Future Urbanity which comprised of eminent speakers – Shri O.P. Agarwal IAS (Retd.) (Former Secretary, GoI) (CEO, WRI) and Dr. Ali Alrouf (VP,International Society of City and Regional Planners). Shri O.P. Agarwal (Former IAS) spoke about “Cities on the Move” by elucidating on the importance of urban mobility. Dr. Ali Alroufspoke about “Beyond Oil: From Barrel to People Deconstructing Qatar’s Architecture & Urbanity in Post Carbon Paradigm” and explained the paradigm shift in the urban planning that took place in Doha, Qatar over the past decade.
The first Technical Session of Day 2 had the themes- Institutions and Actors in Governance having Prof. Dr. Tathagata Chatterji as the Chair, Environmental Risk and Resilience having Prof. Dr. Jublee Mazumdar as the Chair, Solid Waste Management having Prof. Nalin Ranjan as the Chair, City and Regional Setting having Prof.Dr. Mayank Dubey as the Chair and Land and Livelihood having Prof. Atanu Chatterjee as the Chair.
The second Plenary Session comprised of the themes- Water and Waste Management having Prof. Nalin Ranjan as the Chair, Urban Infrastructure, Technology and Information Systems having Prof. Dr. Jublee Mazumdar as the Chair, Urban Public Spaces and Built Heritage having Prof. Dr. Ali Alrouf as the Chair, City & Regional Settings having Prof. Prashant Prasad as the Chair and Urban Economy and Livelihood having Dr. Amruta Ponkshe as the Chair. The summit ended with the conference roundup and distribution of the AURA Awards to the students.
