Shaping Sustainable Futures

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, reshaping ecosystems, deepening inequalities and threatening livelihoods worldwide. With rising temperatures, depleting resources and growing public health crises, the urgency to act has never been greater. At Ashoka, the commitment to sustainability is woven into the very fabric of its ethos. Through innovative campus practices, cutting-edge research, and globally relevant education, Ashoka equips and enables its community to address these pressing global issues head-on.

The Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability (3CS) at Ashoka University, a unique multidisciplinary centre, exemplifies this ethos. Established in 2020, 3CS brings together close to 30 faculty members from nine departments to tackle complex environmental challenges across seven focus areas. These areas—ranging from health and economics to societal impacts and climate communication—guide the centre’s projects and research, enabling a comprehensive approach to sustainability. Among these, ‘Ecology, Conservation, and Climate Change’ focuses on the ecological features of degraded ecosystems and long-term evolutionary changes in hosts, parasites and wildlife. The aim is to establish and sustain long-term studies to understand how climate change impacts the natural world.  Similarly, One Health approaches human health within the larger context of ecological health, exploring the effects of  habitat changes, and biodiversity loss. 

The centre is currently examining the impact of climate change on small mammal communities and the risks of zoonotic disease spillovers, aiming to develop models for assessing future outbreaks and generating critical data on the ecological and evolutionary consequences of climate change on biodiversity. Dr. Balaji Chattopadhyay, the principal investigator leading this project, says the work “seeks to bridge the gap in knowledge, ensuring that we are better equipped to tackle the emerging threats to both wildlife and human health.” The seven focus areas often intersect, as seen in projects like the initiative on cost-effective air quality monitoring with decision support. The centre is developing easy-to-use platforms to provide laypeople with contextual information regarding air quality. The centre uses social media, blogs, art, music, podcasts, and targeted advocacy campaigns to communicate the urgency of issues surrounding climate change and sustainability. Environmental Humanities at 3CS seeks to understand how humanities shape our understanding of the natural world and how to better understand the current crises through a study of art, literature and culture. The Indian Plant Humanities project, for instance, is creating an archive of thought on plant life by writers, artists, philosophers and scientists from the Indian subcontinent over the last two millennia.

Sustainability at Ashoka extends beyond academics. The University campus serves as a living model of ecological responsibility. From architectural innovations such as the jaali that minimises energy use to rainwater harvesting systems and 24/7 electric vehicle charging stations, every design element reflects a commitment to environmental stewardship. The ‘Towards Sustainability at Ashoka University’ project at 3CS involves students, staff, faculty, and community members to develop sustainable initiatives to improve Ashoka’s environmental, economic, and social performances. These initiatives are designed to foster a campus culture that champions ecological responsibility and sustainability. Students, too, are active participants in these efforts, growing organic vegetables in the campus nursery and engaging in sustainability-focused initiatives such as LiveGreen. Programmes like ‘Sustainability Ambassadors’ allow students to participate in the planning and implementing of action plans to make Ashoka a more sustainable community. This approach ensures that sustainability is not just studied but lived, inspiring a life-long commitment to ecological responsibility. 

The ecosystem at Ashoka strives to cultivate a strong sense of ecological consciousness and responsibility amongst the community. As Ashoka looks to the future, it envisions a world where education and action intersect to create transformative change.