Amrita’s UNESCO Chair Professors, Dr Maneesha Ramesh and Dr Bhavani Rao, attended and delivered at the round-table gathering of UNESCO Chairs in South Asia, held at Bhubaneshwar, 18th and 19th March 2024.

The event was convened by Prof Amareswar Galla, Pro-Chancellor, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, a deemed-to-be University, and saw the participation of 16 UNESCO Chairs from India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

Mr Tim Curtis also took part as the Director and UNESCO Representative for the UNESCO Regional Office in New Delhi. The bureau covers six countries of South Asia – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Dr Ramesh, who is Amrita’s Provost, deliberated on her group’s findings as the UNESCO Chair on Experiential Learning for Sustainable Innovation & Development. The United Nations had awarded Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham the UNESCO Chair on Experiential Learning for Sustainable Innovation & Development on June 12, 2020.

Through this Chair, the University has been in the process of developing a comprehensive framework for academic engagement to build sustainable communities by designing a curriculum based on experiential learning.

Dr Bhavani Rao, who is Amrita Dean of the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, is India’s only UNESCO Chair in Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment. She has been developing solutions and a comprehensive map to tackle vulnerabilities women face in India and the world. Dr. Rao deliberated on her group’s discussions at the UNESCO chairs round-table event.

UNITWIN is the abbreviation for UNESCO’s university twinning and networking scheme. With its Chairs, they play a crucial role in strengthening higher education systems and fostering collaborative research partnerships and networks. By integrating research, teaching, training, and community engagement, the Programme facilitates interdisciplinary knowledge generation and serves as a global observatory and laboratory of ideas.