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Special PEER-PIRE Cycle (June 2012 Deadline) NSF-PIRE collaboration: developing low-carbon cities in India: field research on water-energy-carbon baselines and low-carbon strategies in Indian cities PI: Bharani Emani Kumar, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and Rakesh Yadav, Resource Optimization Initiative (ROI)
U.S. Partner: Anu Ramaswami, University of Minnesota Project Dates: January 2013 - June 2016 Project Overview The overall goal of this project is to conduct innovative, interdisciplinary research that facilitates the development of low-carbon cities in India through mitigating greenhouse gas emissions while also offering local water efficiency benefits; reducing waste, pollution, and climate vulnerability; and promoting governance for sustainable development. In alignment with several key USAID priorities in the country, this project addresses climate change, renewable/ sustainable energy interventions, water sustainability, climate risks, and environmental engineering solutions in cities in India. 
Students preparing a material flow diagram (Photo courtesy Dr. Yadav).
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ROI and Yale students being trained at Mysore (Photo courtesy Dr. Yadav).
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The project will apply an interdisciplinary framework to integrate urban infrastructure engineering, industrial symbiosis, urban planning, environmental/climate sciences, social sciences, and public policy. Research opportunities will be offered to about 50 students from the United States (with separate funding from the National Science Foundation) and 50 students from India drawn from diverse disciplines, which should contribute to training the next generation of leaders in the two nations. The hope is to build capacity among academic institutions in India for innovative interdisciplinary research and education on sustainable cities and build capacity among nongovernmental organizations to translate research insights to community-based action for sustainability. Final Summary of Project Activities
During the course of the project, the project team conducted research surveys on industrial symbiosis in the cities of Mysore and Coimbatore, located in Karnataka & Tamil Nadu states, respectively. The results were drafted into reports indicating the existence of symbiotic relationships that saved resources and also found there is still potential to explore symbiotic relationships in future. These were explored during a January 15, 2015 workshop titled “Industrial Symbiosis: How to Conduct Industrial Symbiosis Research in India?” which was attended by stakeholders including 110 student participants (45 males & 50 females). Following the workshop and in compliance with India mandate on CSR activities relating to public-private partnerships for sustainable development, the project team met with government and private sector officials resulting in a case study with PepsiCo on the collaborative approach of CSR in achieving sustainability. Finally, the team developed a database of industrial symbiosis case studies in India, US, and China for further research & comparisons.
In terms of education, the project developed one day training program on industrial symbiosis focusing on conducting industrial symbiosis in India. It sponsored two TERI students to participate in the Summer School organized at IIT Kanpur, India and recruited 11 students (nine females and two males) from Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE) to conduct field research in Mysore and one female project lead and four students from Park College of Engineering to conduct field research in Coimbatore. The students were also trained on conducting industrial surveys and are now well placed in their professional careers.
U.S. & Indian researchers at the Triveni Engineering offices (Photo courtesy Dr. Yadav).
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U.S. & Indian researchers doing industry survey work (Photo courtesy Dr. Yadav).
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