States » NorthPosted at: Oct 22 2026 4:32PM


IIT Kanpur, Vatican academies to hold climate resilience summit in Lucknow on Nov 3-4

Kanpur, Oct 22 (UNI) The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), in partnership with the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS) and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS), Vatican City, will organise a two-day summit in Lucknow on November 3-4 to explore sustainable agriculture, water and energy solutions to tackle climate change and strengthen rural livelihoods.
The Regional Rural-India Summit on Regenerative Agriculture, Water and Energy for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation will be organised through IIT Kanpur's Kotak School of Sustainability, with union Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare and Rural Development Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan as the chief guest.
The summit will focus on the challenges facing rural India, particularly the Indo-Gangetic Plains, where rising temperatures, erratic monsoons, groundwater depletion, soil degradation and extreme weather are putting pressure on agriculture, public health and rural livelihoods
It will bring together scientists, policymakers, practitioners and innovators to explore integrated approaches linking soil health, water conservation, clean energy and climate-resilient agriculture.
A key focus will be regenerative agriculture, including measures to restore soil health, improve water retention and groundwater recharge, conserve biodiversity, use resources efficiently and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Discussions will also examine how advances in soil science, hydrology, precision agriculture, clean energy and digital monitoring can be translated into scalable solutions.
The summit is part of the international climate resilience initiative of PAS and PASS, based on the MAST framework - Mitigation, Adaptation and Societal Transformation. Following a global summit on climate resilience at the Vatican in 2024, regional dialogues have been held in California and Massachusetts in the US, Nairobi, Vienna, Brasilia and Dakar.
The India summit will apply this framework to the specific challenges of rural communities and agriculture in the Indo-Gangetic Plains.
The opening plenary will feature PAS President Joachim von Braun, IIT Kanpur Director Manindra Agrawal, Indian National Science Academy President Shekhar Mande and Kotak School of Sustainability Dean Sachchida Nand Tripathi, along with Chouhan.
A special session will feature Padma Bhushan awardee Anil Prakash Joshi, Padma Shri awardee Ashok Gulati and Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient Rajendra Singh, popularly known as the 'Jal Purush'.
The programme will also include a session on MAST as a universal protocol for climate resilience, with video contributions from Veerabhadran Ramanathan, a member of the PAS Council, and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston and a member of the PASS Council.
International experts, including Örjan Gustafsson, Ashish Jha, Soumya Swaminathan, Rattan Lal, Cecilia Tortajada and Raghu Murtugudde, will contribute to discussions on monsoon science, regenerative agriculture, climate and public health, water security, clean energy, climate-driven migration and science-policy planning.
The summit will also highlight community-led adaptation, women-led initiatives and experiences from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Prof. Joachim von Braun, President, PAS, said: “India offers an important opportunity to bring the MAST framework to a region of immense agricultural and human significance. The Summit will connect global science with India’s knowledge and grassroots experience to strengthen climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods.”
Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Director, IIT Kanpur, said: “The climate challenge facing rural India requires an integrated scientific understanding of agriculture, water and energy. The Summit will bring global expertise and India’s scientific and field experience together to develop practical, scalable solutions for the Indo-Gangetic Plains.”
Tripathi said the region represented a critical intersection of climate, agriculture, water and livelihoods, adding that the summit aimed to develop integrated approaches to strengthen resilience and restore the ecological foundations of rural prosperity.
The organisers expect the discussions to generate actionable recommendations for policymaking and implementation at the state and national levels while linking India's experience with global efforts to strengthen climate resilience.
UNI MBD AAB
Tags: #IIT Kanpur# Vatican academies to hold climate resilience summit in Lucknow on Nov 3-4
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