IIT-H team to help governments combat air pollution levels
TNN | Updated: Jan 23, 2019, 08:10 IST
Photo for representative purpose onlyHYDERABAD: A team of researchers from the the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) is coordinating a study on ‘air pollution governance across cities’ (better known as the 6+ cities study) to showcase how coordination between ‘understanding’ and ‘governing’ air pollution is taking place in different cities.
The study, expanded to Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune in India (originally, the project was to look into some cities in the US) will characterise distinctive styles of environmental health and risk governance at city level. “Air pollution is one of the larger problems in every city and many policy decisions are now based on it. Through this study, we intend to create a database of monitoring infrastructure, reasons for increase in air pollution and its impact on health to help policymakers understand the problem through the perspective of various stakeholders,” said Prof Aalok Khandekar of IIT-H who is coordinating the study, adding that comparative analyses of various cities will help come up with solutions to improve air quality.
The study, which will conclude in 2020, will look into a city’s air pollution governance style as an effect of the ways different communities in the city come together. Through interviews, observation of public events, and analysis of media, government, NGOs and scientific reports, the study team is examining stakeholder roles and perspectives, links in policy domains and links across scale.
Funded by the Azim Premji Foundation, the study will experiment in new forms of research collaboration and supporting digital infrastructure. Highlighting the international collaboration involved in this project, Prof Kim Fortun, anthropology chair in University of California Irvine, said: “What brings our team together is our concern about environmental public health, the political regimes that make it so difficult to protect environmental public health, and the demands environmental health makes.”
The project will seek to emphasise upon the role of scientific communities and organisations in pollution governance processes.
The study, expanded to Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune in India (originally, the project was to look into some cities in the US) will characterise distinctive styles of environmental health and risk governance at city level. “Air pollution is one of the larger problems in every city and many policy decisions are now based on it. Through this study, we intend to create a database of monitoring infrastructure, reasons for increase in air pollution and its impact on health to help policymakers understand the problem through the perspective of various stakeholders,” said Prof Aalok Khandekar of IIT-H who is coordinating the study, adding that comparative analyses of various cities will help come up with solutions to improve air quality.
The study, which will conclude in 2020, will look into a city’s air pollution governance style as an effect of the ways different communities in the city come together. Through interviews, observation of public events, and analysis of media, government, NGOs and scientific reports, the study team is examining stakeholder roles and perspectives, links in policy domains and links across scale.
Funded by the Azim Premji Foundation, the study will experiment in new forms of research collaboration and supporting digital infrastructure. Highlighting the international collaboration involved in this project, Prof Kim Fortun, anthropology chair in University of California Irvine, said: “What brings our team together is our concern about environmental public health, the political regimes that make it so difficult to protect environmental public health, and the demands environmental health makes.”
The project will seek to emphasise upon the role of scientific communities and organisations in pollution governance processes.
more from times of india Cities
LATEST VIDEOS
All Comments ()+^ Back to Top
Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.
HIDE