Education is the Power to Build a Better Future: Tim Curtis

“Education is not only a fundamental right of every human being but also the power to build a better future,” said Dr. Tim Curtis, Director of the UNESCO Delhi Office and Representative for India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. He was addressing the International Conference on Sustainable and Resilient Futures held at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s Amritapuri campus.

Dr. Curtis highlighted that while UNESCO collaborates with many stakeholders worldwide to harness the power of education, partnerships with institutions like Amrita University are exemplary. He noted that this long-standing collaboration has enabled UNESCO to work closely with Amrita for many years.

The inaugural session witnessed the participation of Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta IAS, Additional Chief Secretary and Development Commissioner of Karnataka, and K. V. Shaji, Chairman of NABARD, as chief guests. Swami Poornamritananda Puri, General Secretary of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, delivered the benedictory address. Senior leaders from Amrita, including Dr. P. Ajith Kumar (Registrar), Dr. Maneesha V. Ramesh (Provost), Dr. Bipin G. Nair (Dean, Amrita School of Biotechnology), and Dr. M. Ravishankar (Principal, Amrita School for Sustainable Futures), also took part.

The international conference, jointly organized by the Amrita School for Sustainable Futures, the UNESCO Chair on Experiential Learning for Sustainable Innovation and Development, and the International Network for Sustainable Innovation and Resilient Futures, featured nine tracks covering a wide range of themes such as climate, environmental restoration, and sustainability.

As part of the event, nearly eighty expert lectures, hackathons, symposiums, an NGO conclave with the participation of organizations from across India, workshops, paper presentations, and panel discussions were conducted.

Notably, the conference was organized in a completely carbon-neutral manner, marking the first time in Asia such an initiative has been undertaken.

Three digital platforms were also launched during the conference, including the Sustainability and Resilience by Community Engagement and Empowerment (SREE) platform, designed to strengthen sustainability and resilience at multiple levels of society by using geo-enabled indicators.

Adding a cultural dimension, participants from different countries presented a cultural evening and artistic performances, which stood out as a unique highlight of the conference.

The event drew nearly a thousand participants from more than twenty countries, making it a truly global platform for dialogue on building a sustainable and resilient future.