A conference hosted by the Mumbai Educational Trust (MET) Institute of Management looked for tech solutions to help increase biodiversity, reduce carbon footprints and explored new ways to manage waste and control pollution.
The National Research Conference on Holistic Value Creation through Sustainable Development and the Sustainability Hackathon was aimed at establishing a platform that would aid in the implementation of an action plan at both the local and macro levels.
Aaditya Thackeray, minister of environment, tourism and protocol, Maharashtra, was the chief guest at the conference. He emphasised the importance of technology and data-driven solutions to help combat climate change and move towards more sustainable cities and planet as a whole. He urged students to be the forerunner of climate change initiatives with their novel and bold ideas.
Thackeray wished to create a bridge between technology and the young minds to provide a solution to environmental problems. He has been championing sustainability and climate resilience initiatives right from adding the concerns and actions for environment in the syllabus of schools to the launching of a new electric vehicle policy.
The panel that assessed the participants comprised of academic and corporate leaders – Pratyush Panda, CSR director, L&T Infotech; Prasanna Lohar, VP Technology, DCB Bank; Rishiraj Baruah, senior associate – AZB & partners; and Major Rahul Bannore, assistant vice-president, investigations and vigilance, RBL FinCom.