Events

Name of the Event: MoU Signing between School of Planning and Development (SPD) and Indian Green Building Council (IGBC)

Day 1

Place and Date of the Event: Block A, A015, 15th September 2022

Organising Team and Collaborators: Varsha Khetrapal, Preetha Ravisree Sajin , Shalini. K, Ria Kapoor, Ishani Garg, Ankita Srivastava and Dr Himadri S Dey.

Audience and Participants- 67 students were part of this event from Planning, Architecture and Engineering Departments. The session was attended by Dr. Naveen Piplani (Dircetor creative cluster), Prof. Col. Virendra Kumar Malik (Dean- School of Art and Architecture) and Prof. (Dr.) Sudipto Sarkar (Dean- School of Engineering And Technology).

Goal/ Purpose of the Event: School of Planning and Development (SPD) has successfully signed an MoU with the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) and has taken an annual membership for the student chapter.

Schedule of the Event:

Summary of the proceeding:

Members of IGBC visited our campus on 15th Sept 2022 to sign the document and also conducted a guest lecture on Green Buildings for all the Planning, Architecture, and Engineering students and the faculty members.

1. Memorandum of Understanding Signing The experts Ms. Sheetal Rakheja (Chairperson, IGBC North India Chapter) and Mr. Sanjay Varshney (Co-Chiar IGBC) along with SPD Director Ms. Preetha Ravisree Sajin headed towards the Registrar office to meet the Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Sharma. The MoU was signed in between the School of Planning and Development department under Sushant University and Indian Green Building Council.

The MoU signing session proved to be a wonderful event where the students got to learn about the functions and roles of IGBC, how they can become a part of this esteemed organisation in order to design and plan sustainable buildings/cities and also understand the benefits of becoming a part of the IGBC students’ chapter.

Name of the Event: Induction / Orientation Programme (5 Days Event)

Place and Date of the Event: Block A, A-015, 22nd August 2022 and 23rd August 2022; IHC, 24th August 2022; City Tour 25th August 2022, Internship Exhibition and Alumni Interaction, 26th August 2022;

Organising Team and Collaborators: Ria Kapoor, Ishani Garg, Shalini, Ankita Srivastava, Dr Himadri S Dey, Preetha Ravisree Sajin, Varsha Khetrapal

Goal/ Purpose of the Event: The goal of the event was to welcome the students and also to have an idea of the working environment on the campus as well as in the offices with an excellent learning opportunity.

Schedule of the Event:

Summary of the proceeding:

Day 1

School of Planning and Development conducted the first day of Orientation for newly joined students. The Director of the School, Preetha Ravisree inaugurated the event. The faculty and Students Council addressed the students highlighting their roles and responsibilities. The event ended with a healthy Interaction Session between the existing students and freshers.

Day 2

School of Planning and Development successfully conducted the second day of orientation in the department wherein an interaction between the students and the academics and industry experts was organized. Dr. Tejwant S Brar motivated the students to give their best and explained how urbanplanners play a crucial role in shaping the cities while Ar. Saran Bhatia had a discussion on walkability of the cities and its importance with the students.

Day 3:

The students of School of Planning and Development visited Indian Habitat Centre on the 3rd Day of their Induction Programme. They had an insightful discussion with Rajneesh Sareen , Programme Director at @CSE followed by an interactive session at National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA). The students got a chance to interact and learn from hon' director of NIUA Hitesh Vaidya.

Day 4:

On day 4, the young budding city #planners of School of Planning and Development explored the old and new areas of city of Gurgaon. With an array of interesting places that Gurgaon has to offer, ranging from narrow yet colorful streets of Sadar to modern and jazzy glass buildings along the Golf Course Road, the students had an unparalleled experience.

They also familiarized themselves to the different modes of public transportation in the city. After all, it is vital for the fresh minds to #experience and observe our #cities very closely to make better livable #cities for all.

Day 5

The fifth day was an eventful for all the students of School of Planning and Development. Firstly, the students got a chance to witness the #work and #experiences of their #seniors who have recently completed their #internships in esteemed organizations. The seniors displayed and explained their works which provided the freshers an insight of what urbanplanning ground work looks like. Followed by this, the students got a chance to interact with Mr Anirudh Yadav , an alumni of Sushant University. Anirudh is an entrepreneur with degree in Planning. He shared his knowledge and wisdom with the students. Later to this, two eminent people, Mr. Sanjay Chaudhary and Mrs.Sinimol Noushad addressed the students with their powerful talks. Mr. Sanjay Chaudhary is the CEO of IMS Proschool Pvt. Ltd. where the vision is to create employment oriented programs, which is widely cited as missing link in India’s higher education scenario.

Mrs. Sinimol Noushad, is the founder and CEO of DEZIRE Project Consultant and DIA Interiors. The students gained invaluable experience and exposure in the first week of their joining. The week concluded with all smiles and happy faces.

Feedback:

The orientation day proved to be a wonderful event where the students learned about campus life, also learned in brief about how things are done in industry and a good initiative for the ice-breaking session where students from different places interacted amongst themselves as well as their seniors and faculties.

From 11th – 15th July, a 5- day FDP program was conducted by School of Planning and development in collaboration with Center of Science and Environment (CSE). The theme of the program was – “Guiding self- built housing towards sustainability and thermal comfort.” It was organised and conducted by Leena Thombre (Assistant professor- SPD) under guidance of Director Preetha Sajin. The participants comprised of the architecture and planning faculties from different institutes across India.

Goal/ Purpose of the Event: The program was focused on upscaling the knowledge of Planning and architecture faculties in creating sustainable environment while achieving thermal comfort.

Concept Note and Collaterals: The course highlights were:

• Green recovery in the self-built housing sector post COVID-19
• Government initiatives and an overview of self-built housing
• India Cooling action Plan – Thermal comfort for all
• Human thermal comfort
• Traditional and Climate appropriate building materials and technologies.
• Building envelope and thermal properties of materials to achieve occupant comfort
• Eco Niwas Samhita – (ECBC-Residential)

Summary of the proceeding:

The FDP program was conducted as workshop, lecture and interactive session which focused on developing understanding towards key concept and challenges of thermal comfort in cities. The participants came from Lucknow, Cuttack and Allahabad to attend the 5-day FDP program. The School of Planning and development conducted successful workshop –“" Microclimate based thermal comfort in campus premises" on first day and rest of the training was conducted by Center of Science and environment (CSE) at Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute (AAETI), Alwar Rajasthan. The faculties found the 5- day FDP Program very insightful and knowledgeable. It is hoped that participants will carry forward the knowledge and training in their respective field of work.

On 6th May 2022, School of Planning and Development (SPD) organized an exhibition of Research & Creative Endeavours of Urban Planning Students aiming towards the Industry Connect Drive for Internships & Placements. The event was graced by honourable Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Creative Cluster Director, Deans from School of Engineering and technology, School Of Design, and Vatel Hotel and Tourism Business School and by the CRC team.

The goal of the programme was to build partnership with industry people which can provide foundation to the students to achieve their professional aspirations. To strengthen the School's relationship with industry for advisory services, internship/placements, and to create a networking platform for exchanging and scaling up good practices from the field. The school invited various organizations/institutions to the campus to showcase SPD students' work and to assist them with their placement/internship and establish the provision of on-campus placement. The following dignitaries from various organizations became part of the event through online and offline mode:

• Dr. R. Srinivas, TCPO
• Mrs. Tanya Chaturvedi, Dronah Foundation
• Mr. Sugeet Grover, Center for Science and Environment (CSE)
• Mr. Aviral Dubey, PRAJA
• Ms. Ritu, Corurban Foundation
• Mr. Adarsh Kapoor, Creative Footprints
• Mr. Roshan Toshniwal, Ola mobility Institute
• Mr. Rahul Singh, GreenCIndia.

Schedule of the Event:

S. No. Time Programs

1. 4:00 PM Inauguration & Lamp lighting

2. 4:15 PM Welcome speech by Vice Chancellor sir, S.U.

3. 4:30 PM Introductory Speech of Dean SPD

4. 4:45 PM Discussion with Industry Delegates/Planning fraternity

(enhance relationship between SPD & industry/MoU)

5. 5:00 PM High Tea

6. 5:30 PM Presentation by M. Plan Ist Year Students

(CVs & Portfolio will be shared-hardcopy)

7. 6:00 PM Presentation by B. Plan IIIrd Year & IInd year Students

(CVs & Portfolio will be shared-hardcopy)

8. 6:30 PM Presentation by M. Plan IInd Year Students

(CVs & Portfolio will be shared-hardcopy)

9. 7:00 PM Souvenir & Vote of Thanks

10. 7:30 PM Snacks & discussion with Students

The event was a success as about ten eminent organizations showed their interest in taking interns as well as offered placement opportunities to the students of School of Planning and development. The industry guests were satisfied with the overall performance of the students and realized the potential of SPD’s products as viable human resource in NCR region. Students also felt recognized after establishing industry connect.

On 19th April, 2022 School of Planning and Development (SPD) organized a guest lecture by Mr. Saran Bhatia on walkability and Liveability. The event was conducted in the offline mode and was attended by SPD faculty members and students of both SPD & School of Design (SoD).

The goal of the event was to highlight the importance of livable and walkable spaces through the case example of Delhi. The lecture talked about how rapid growth in urban area is impacting not only the lives of the people but is also disturbing the urban ecosystems.

Using the case example of Delhi it was highlighted that the cities today face the major issue of Air pollution and have very poor air quality index. Statistics show that globally India has the highest death rate due to air pollution.

Through various examples Mr. Saran highlighted the importance of creating walkable spaces that are not only structurally sound but should also have provide users with the visual aid. Creating such spaces will help increase the number of pedestrian users as it creates a visual interest among them.

The Lecture proved to be a wonderful platform where the students learned about how to accommodate walkable spaces through city planning and help improve the city by adding some creative interventions into spaces.

On 11th April 2022, lecture on “Data collection tools and techniques”, was held by School of Planning and development through online mode. It was organised and conducted by Ms. Leena Thombre (Assistant professor- SPD). The audience consisted of students, research scholars and faculties.

The lecture was organized to enhance skills and knowledge required for data collection and interpretation process. To make educated decisions, assure quality, and maintain research integrity, accurate data collection is required. During data collecting, scholars must identify the data kinds, data sources, and procedures that will be employed. But how do researchers/scholars collect the data and then interpret it? This session introduced researchers to the conventional structure of data collection methods. The participants learned the effective techniques for conducting data collection and interpretation of the same.

The workshop was conducted as a lecture and interactive session which was mainly focused on addressing the right tools and techniques for data collection purposes. It was largely attended by students of Thesis batch PhD Scholars. Following topics were covered during the workshop:
• Questionnaire design
• Sampling
• Survey methods
• Data interpretations

School of Planning and Development successfully hosted the session. The audience found the presentation incredibly useful in their research and was enthusiastic throughout the presentation.

On 25th March, 2022 School of Planning and Development (SPD) along with School of Art and Architecture (SAA) and Corporate Resource Center (CRC) organized a workshop on CV/Portfolio preparation and thesis research. The workshop highlighted the importance of CV, portfolio and thesis research done and how it can prove to be an important tool for showcasing our potential to the employers.

Name of the Event: Workshop on CV/Portfolio Preparation and Thesis Research

Place and Date of the Event:

Sushant University Block A, SPD, A-015

25th March, 2022

Organising Team and Collaborators:

School of Art and Architecture (SAA):

Mr. Himanshu Sanghani (Associate professor and Associate Dean)

Corporate Resource Center (CRC, SU):

Mr. Yashpal Shrama (Deputy Director)

Concept Note and Collaterals:

Getting a job is not just about working for a few hours, but it’s about working to improve yourself as a person and learning skills which will certainly help you realize your goals. One of the important steps towards securing a good job is to have an impressive CV and portfolio. The CV/resume is your first chance to make a good impression when applying for a job, whether it's your first job, or a promotion within the same company. It's one thing that needs to stand out in the minds of recruiters. It is impossible to overestimate the value of a well-written resume. The same goes for the portfolio as well. In today’s competitive world the importance for both of them has been recognised and cannot be stressed enough.

Schedule of the Event:

The event started at 03:15 pm with the lecture given by Mr. Himanshu Sanghani on the importance of CV and the different types that are there. He also talked about how a portfolio needs to be prepared and what should be the flow of the data that is being incorporated. The next part that is covered was regarding the thesis research and its types. This was followed by a lecture by Mr. Yashpal Sharma on the various job opportunities and what are the important skills required to secure a chance with the desirable employer.

The program ran smoothly thanks to the enthusiasm of both Mr. Himanshu Sanghani and Mr. Yashpal Sharma along with the active participation of the students. The total participation in the event was 28 consisting of the students from both School of Art and Architecture (SAA) and School of Planning and Development (SPD). The overall feedback of the event was good. The students had the opportunity to learn a different styles of CV preparation and the various skills that are important for job procurement.

On 24th March, 2022 the School of Planning and development organized an event in collaboration with Centre of Science and Environment (CSE) from 12:00 pm to 3: 00 pm. The event’s main highlight was the MoU signing followed by a series of lectures from the CSE experts.

Organising Team and Collaborators:

Centre of Science and Environment (CSE):

1. Mr. Rajneesh Sareen (Programme Director, Sustainable Buildings and Habitat Programme)

2. Mr. Sugeet Grover (Deputy Programme Manager, Sustainable Buildings and Habitat Programme)

3. Ms. Mitashi Singh (Deputy Programme Manager, Sustainable Buildings and Habitat Programme)

Participation:

The total participation in the event was 80 comprising of the students from both School of Art and Architecture (SAA) and School of Planning and Development (SPD), along with the faculty members of SPD.

Goal/ Purpose of the Event:

The School of Planning and Development and the Centre of Environment & Science has organized a workshop event to celebrate the MOU signing between these two institutes. The workshop was on ‘heat resilient and thermal comfort’ and it was to develop a strong association with each other and to promote the cause of sustainable habitat in build sector to SPD/SAA students. The two major objectives of this MOU are:

Knowledge Partnership: CSE will act as the knowledge partner of SPD, Sushant University to help in the inclusion of sustainability content in the curriculum. To assist SPD, in providing technical, advisory, knowledge and capacity building support to facilitate handholding in course development and workshops for students and faculty members.

Capacity Building and Training Activities: To conduct seminars/trainings/workshops for students and nominated faculty of the SPD, Gurugram.

Support to students with Internships/Placement: To provide with support in the internship and placement activities of the school.

Concept Note and Collaterals:

In the recent years with the advent of the global climate change and rapid urbanization an increasing interest has been seen in the field of attaining sustainability. One of the crucial methods of realizing this is adoption of sustainable material usage. This approach is becoming important every day with the increasing demand in the construction sector. It has become crucial for the students and professionals to understand the role of such materials in achieving sustainability. This was the theme for the workshop that was conducted by CSE for our students.

Schedule of the Event:

The event started at 12:15 pm with the lecture given by Mr. Rajneesh Sareen the Programme Director of Sustainable Buildings and Habitat Programme, CSE. The first discussion was on the role of urban planner in realizing the importance of sustainability and how planning is not restricted to just one sector but acts as a holistic tool. This was followed by a lecture by our second expert Ms. Mitashi Singh who discussed about the climate change and results of one of the surveys conducted by CSE to understand the perception of the people with respect to the adoption of sustainable materials. The third expert Mr. Sugeet Grover talked about the adoption of vernacular material for the constriction of structures today.

HOD Professor Preetha Ravisree Sajin addressed the participants and thanked the CSE team members for the enlightening session. After the lectures there was a brief interaction between the students and experts regarding the different opportunities being offered by CSE and what all avenues can be explored by the students. The interaction session was followed by lunch to the SPD members, courtesy of the CSE team.

The program ran smoothly thanks to the enthusiasm of the CSE team and the active participation of the students. The overall feedback of the event was good. The students had the opportunity to learn a different dimension of planning and also learnt a great deal about the future career opportunities.

The School of Planning and Development organized a Faculty Development Programme on GIS “Geographical Information System – A multidisciplinary tool” from 10th March 2022 to 12th March 2022, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Organising Team: Dr. Himadri Shekhar Dey, Ms. Varsha Khetrapal

Collaborators: Mr. Ayan Ghosh, Mr. Ankit Pandey

Audience and Participants: In total there were 190 participants.

Goal/ Purpose of the Event:

GIS techniques become potential and indispensable tools for solving many problems w.r.t spatial planning which co- relates spatial data and their attribute data, so as to use them in various fields. Especially with the change in the paradigm of usability of spatial data set through geoinformatics, it is the need of the hour to synchronize the learning and application of GIS. With this intent School of planning and development propose a faculty development programme for Learning the fundamentals of GIS which will help up and running in no time.

Concept Note and Collaterals:

Geographical information system (GIS) plays an important role in enhancing skill of understanding the information available on the earth surface. All types of information be it topographical or human related data sets, indicates an evident role in strengthening the knowledge base and understanding of any subject. Especially with the change in the paradigm of usability of spatial data set through geoinformatics, it is the need of the hour to synchronise the education system with the learning and application of GIS in all arenas of education as it bridges the gap between theoretical and practical knowledge.

With this intent School of Planning and Development propose a faculty development programme named “Geographical Information System – A multidisciplinary tool”. It will be a three day hands on learning programme on GIS Software.

Summary of the proceeding:

Day 1 (2:00 pm to 5:00 pm)

•Introductory Message by Dean, School of Planning and Development

• Introduction to GIS & Basic Concepts, Components, Functions & advantages – Theory

• Hands on learning on GIS software

Day 2 (2:00 pm to 5:00 pm)

• Hands on learning on Q-GIS – Geo-referencing, understanding of projection systems

• Digitization and creation of vector data from raster data set

• Integration of spatial data and attribute data.

• Spatial analysis and query building

Day 3 (2:00 pm to 5:00 pm)

• Understanding and extraction of final analysis.

• Layout designing

• Resolution of queries from attendees

The interaction between the participants and the experts was quite productive. Overall, the event proved to be a success with high participation.

On 9th March 2022, workshop on How to do review of literature? was held by School of Planning and development (SPD) through online mode. It was organised and conducted by Ms. Leena Thombre (Assistant professor- SPD). The audience consisted of both students and faculties.

Goal/ Purpose of the Event: To enhance literature review skills in thesis students and research scholars.

Concept Note and Collaterals: Scholars benefit from literature reviews in thesis and research articles for a variety of reasons. The authors review relevant literature to identify a research gap or knowledge deficit that their present study can fill. Literature review generates new insights about how a particular topic is currently and has been previously understood by the existing literature. It provides justification for the new study, research, or grant.

But how do writers summarise the discussion and then contribute to it? This session introduces researchers to the conventional structure of a literature review in thesis, taking into consideration variances in communicative aims and disciplinary distinctions.

Summary of the proceeding:

The workshop was conducted as lecture and interactive session which was mainly focused on addressing the right methods to review a literature for research purposes. It was largely attended by students of Thesis batch. Following topics covered during the workshop:

• Resource evaluation

• Writing techniques

• Paraphrasing

• Referencing

Audience found the session extremely helpful in their research endeavours. The workshop was successfully hosted by School of Planning and development. The session received positive reviews from the audience.

On 25th January, 2022 the School of Planning and Development organized a photography competition "URBAN FRAMES" for high schoolers and college students. The goal of the event was to understand the perspective of the students on how they perceive their urban surroundings.

The pandemic in the last 2 years has given us a chance to reflect on how we live our lives and how we want to live. The submissions were invited expressing reflections on the ethical challenges of COVID-19 and its consequences through the medium of photography.

The Themes for Photography were:-

•Life during lockdown

•Current Public gathering spaces

•Street stories

•Me and Covid - a mutual understanding

The submissions for the competition were done by students from all over India by 25th of January, 2022 and on 4th February, 2022 the result of the competition was announced during the SPD annual Student led conference (SLE). Below is a glimpse of the winning photographs.

First prize: Kairavi Shah (SAA, Sushant University)

First Runner up: Ashly Augustine (Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal)

Second Runner up- Jyoti Kumari (School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi

The winning photographs were appreciated by the panellists from the planning industry, present during SLE. Also, the initiative to involve the budding young minds and understand their perspective on how they see the urban spaces was applauded.

Event: Matribhasha Diwas

Date: 21st February, 2022

Venue: SPD Amphitheatre

Timing: 3:00 pm

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated February 21st as INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY to promote the dissemination of all people's mother tongues, raise awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions and diversity around the world, and inspire solidarity among people of various cultures and languages. Every year on this date in India, MATRIBHASHA DIWAS is observed to promote the usage of the mother language.

The same was celebrated in school of planning and development (SPD) at the amphitheatre. The event started at 3:00 p.m. and lasted till 5:00 p.m. where the whole SPD family participated.

Variety of performances took place spreading diverse colours during the Matribhasha diwas. The event was led the by student council, president Nishant Singh and secreatry Hrishika Panwar inviting everyone for the event and anchoring it.

The first performance was by Naman Golchha, one was a prayer in Prakrit language and the other one was a song about the invitation to visit the state of Rajasthan depicting their culture in Marwari language.

Second performance was by Ellora and Shananda in Bengali with the song “ekla cholo re” which when roughly translated means, if no one responds to your call then walk on your path alone.

Third performance was by Assistant Professor Mr. Himadri Dey, a poem written by him about the daily follow ups after contracting Covid and another poetry was about a separated woman’s afterlife in Bengali.

Fourth and fifth performance were folk dances by Garima and Ellora from their respective states i.e, Bhangra from Punjab and Bihu from Assam.

Sixth performance was a song in Hindi by Ellora and Paras.

Next performance was by Assistant Professor Ms. Leena in Marathi which was a poem about a sweet smiling girl in Marathi language.

Next performance was by Anshuman in Maithili language from Bihar.

Ninth performance was by Hrishika in Punjabi language reciting a poem “Apna Desh Apna Punjab”.

Tenth performance was by Assistant Professor Ms. Ishani and Associate Professor Ms. Varsha singing a song.

At the end, the event was wrapped up by our beloved HOD Ms. Preetha Ravisree Sajin in Malayalam which was translated to everyone by Varun Nair in English.

The event proved to be a great success and everyone participated in full enthusiasm representing their respective states and culture in their mother tongue on this auspicious event.

Event: Student led seminar and Exhibition (SLE)

Date: 4th February 2022

Platform: Google Meet

Goal/ Purpose of the Event: 50 words

The year-end exhibition has always been a source of pride and celebration for our students and educators. This year too, on 4th February 2022, SPD planned to honor the Planning School's bright minds by hosting an online seminar and an exhibition of students' semester work. The main aim of the event was to showcase the students work from the previous semester to the industry experts and respected academicians. This interaction helped motivate the students for their good work and also increased the learning through feedback from the experts along with increasing the visibility of the school.

The theme of the studio seminar was "Urban Planning and Development." The seminar and exhibition began at 10:00 a.m., with the students hosting an exhibition page for everyone to explore and were provided with feedback on their project work.

The key highlights of the event were as follows:

Lamp lighting and Inaugural

Address by Keynote speakers

A brief Presentation by students (group and individual) on their semester work

Feedback and discussion round between students and the speakers

Hosting of the exhibition pages by students.

Discussion with the other guest participants (Q/A round)

Vote of Thanks

The student’s led event was successfully conducted and appreciated by the Guests and audience. Documentation of students works in the form of coffee table book and research work in editor’s books were valuable outcomes of the event. It was delightful to see coordination among students along with the faculty which paved path for more challenging accomplishments in the future.

On the 4th of December 2018, the School of Planning and Development (SPD), Sushant University was established as an independent school. Earlier our B.Plan and M.Plan (Urban planning) programs were part of the Department of Planning under the School of Art and Architecture (SAA) and the celebration of the annual day on the 4th of December 2021, has been an integral part of our school events. The event was graced by the Registrar, Deans of all Schools, and HR Director. The Chief Guest Dr. Vibhuti Sachdev, Dean SAA and also the founding director of SPD, highly appreciated the efforts of all the students especially the new council members.

It was a time of celebration, felicitation, feasting, and festivity where students not only presented their outstanding performances but were also given out awards for their co-curricular achievements. Celebrating the annual day function gave an opportunity for the School to showcase its pool of talent. The celebration also gave an opportunity for students and faculty members to bond and really get to know each other in an informal environment.

Ms. Preetha Ravisree Sajin, Head of the Department applauded the students and encouraged them to keep moving forward. This was the first such offline event organized by the School after the nationwide lockdown, where all the students were present and the celebration overall proved to be a success.

The students of Bachelor of Planning are undertaking live Studio project on Local Area Planning for Ward 28 Gurugram in association with Municipal Corporation Gurugram. The second year students of Bachelor of Planning, are undertaking a Planning studio on local area planning. As the world faces global crises like climate change and pandemics, planning for sustainable and equitable communities requires both long-term thinking and immediate action. Planners can be change makers today and support intergenerational equity at the community, national and global scales. This Planning studio for the ward No. 28 of Gurugram - is a small step towards this grand vision.

Planning Resilient Cities with Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) on INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (DRR) was Organized by School of Planning and Development SPD in association with National Institute of Disaster Management, Ministry of Home Affairs, GoI 14 October, 2021; 11.00 am - 12.30 pm; Online (Google Meet meet.google.com/hnc-etsm-ief)

This event was organized to enhance understanding on the DRR strategies for planning resilient cities, and strengthen knowledge, skills and values as responsible urban planners who apply due diligence while planning for cities and regions and contribute effectively towards the DRR as humanistic practitioners of the Urban Planning profession.

The audience included Academics, practitioners, researchers and students who are undertaking courses on planning, designing and managing urban settlements wrt. disaster management, environment, energy and climate change. The event was organized by Ms. Kankan Kataria, Associate Professor, School of Planning and Development. The key speakers included-

Prof. Anil K Gupta, HoD, Environment, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Division, NIDM, Ministry of Home Affairs, Gov. of India Disaster mitigation & crisis management expert, Prof. Gupta, is coordinator of technical advisory committee of NIDM, member of governing council & academic/research advisory of several institutions and high level/ministerial delegation abroad. He has coordinated several international/national projects, and has over 100 academic publications.

Prof Gupta highlighted aspects of disaster risk which are changing with time, and new strategies that need to be continually evolving. He emphasized on the need for regular audit towards mitigation, renew preparedness actions in order to safeguard changing forms and structures of housing, land use and transportation systems in and around cities. He also stressed on the need to perceive the future cities which are now transforming into rur-urban, peri-urban areas. He highlighted that the transformation of these urban spaces requires lot of research, and that there is abundant scope for Urban Planners to explore and work upon.

Dr. Sweta Baidya Das, Faculty Consultant, NIDM, Ministry of Home Affairs, Gov. of India PhD in Oceanography from National Institute of Oceanography, Dr Baidya has worked on the Paleo-climate and monsoon shift from Last Glacial Maximum to Holocene. She has worked on Glaciology, Desertification and Land degradation in Jawaharlal Nehru University and Ministry of Earth Sciences, and as faculty of Disaster Management in Jamia Millia Islamia University.

In her session, Dr Baidya created awareness about the DRR strategies that can be applied in the cities. She laid emphasis upon self-sustainability of urban neighborhoods w.r.t. greening, 3 R’s, innovation, inclusiveness in Urban Planning. Mr. Harshit Sharma, Young Faculty Professional, NIDM, Ministry of Home Affairs, Gov. of India Specializes in administration of Disaster Management and has worked in the Vigilance Department. He was an integral part of the WHO Project and UNICEF Project in Nationwide Quality of Care Network (NQOCN India).

Mr. Sharma spoke about the ‘Methodology of disaster management and role of urban Local Bodies in Urban Risk Resilience’ He explained the process of risk assessment, hazard assessment, vulnerability mapping, capacity assessment, application of Planning Laws, Public awareness and training, Budget provisions etc. Mr. Sharma also spoke about various Structural and non-structural interventions to make cities resilient. Dr. Kopal Verma, Jr. Faculty Consultant, NIDM, Ministry of Home Affairs, Gov. of India Is an expert in atmospheric chemistry and climate resilience. She did her PhD in mitigation of indoor carbonaceous aerosols in rural areas from Jawaharlal Nehru University. Conferred with the NESA Junior Scientist of the Year award in 2018, Dr Kopal is the alumnus of European Research Courses of Atmosphere from Grenoble, France.

Dr Kopal deliberated upon ‘nature based solutions for sustainable and resilient cities’ where she covered best practices towards adaptation, conservation and recovery measures that are successfully undertaken to develop resilience in most fragile eco systems.

The Planning Studio Exhibition was planned to showcase the Project work being undertaken by Bachelor of Planning students of second year in their current Planning Studio. The project is Local Area Planning for Municipal ward of Gurugram'. The students are undertaking this project in support with Municipal Corporation Gurugram. The students exhibited their work in progress to the following Urban Planning experts –

Sh. R Srinivas

Senior Town Planner, TCPO, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, GoI

Sh. Sanjeev Mann

Senior Town Planner, Municipal Corporation Gurgaon MCG, Govt. of Haryana

Sh. Rahul Singh

Urban Planner, Environment and Infrastructure Specialist and Legal Expert, Founder -Greencindia Consulting Private Limited

All the students of the batch presented their work covering site visits, public consultations, area analysis and findings from the study. They further asked for feedback from the Planning fraternity at the session who included leading policy maker, decision maker, and private practitioner. The session was very engaging. The Experts were happy with their effort and amount of work done by the students in a limited period of time. One of the experts from MCG has asked for the final report, post completion to take their proposal further for implementation. The students had a lot of questions related to area development, site constraints, data gaps, enforcement of regulations and sought explanation and guidance to take their work forward in order to make a more pragmatic plan for the local ward. The experts were happy to see the level of detailed surveys and mapping done by the students and appreciated their methodology and approach to the exercise. They also shared techniques, sources of information for further research and intervention, in order to reach a level of excellence in their project. The experts also offered internship opportunities for the batch.

The purpose of the event was very well met with and was a great success. The students felt proud of their work, gained confidence, got an opportunity to gain insight into the professional world, and network with most esteemed Planning experts who were from Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, GOI, to State govt of Haryana, to head of Organisation of one of the private consulting firms .

A Special Lecture by Mr. Raj Vir Singh on November3, 2018 was organised. This lecture was scheduled and meant for students of M.Planning (Urban ) & B Planning. The lecture addressed the topic of “Development Plans-Forms, Content and Procedures”. The students work was put up for exhibition.
Mr Raj Vir Singh has served as the Chief Town Planner, Haryana.

A Special Lecture by Mr. Raj Vir Singh on November3, 2018 was organised. This lecture was scheduled and meant for students of M.Planning (Urban ) & B Planning. The lecture addressed the topic of “Development Plans-Forms, Content and Procedures”. The students work was put up for exhibition.
Mr Raj Vir Singh has served as the Chief Town Planner, Haryana.

Key Guests

Prof. Michele Clarke, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor, University of Nottingham, UK
Mr. Vijay Srirangan, Director General, Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Prof. P.S.N. Rao, Director, SPA New Delhi
Prof. Peter Fussey, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex
Dr. Anil Kumar Roy, Associate Professor, CEPT University
Dr. Devendra Saroj, Associate Professor, University of Surrey
Mr R Srinivas, Head, Metropolitian Division, TCPO, New Delhi

Main Agenda

1. A well deliberated Policy Paper on enhancing competitiveness of India’s ‘Five Million Plus’s cities
2. Identify the need for research and knowledge management.
3. Formulate capacity strengthening measures for the ‘Five Million Plus’ cities.

Knowledge Partners

• University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
• Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industries
• Sushant School of Planning and Development

Event: Awareness on Air Pollution
Date: 02.11.18
Flash mob at Central Plaza, Golf Course Road
Students of M Plan I & Master in Architecture (LA) participated in flash mob at Central Plaza, Golf Course Road, Gurgaon. This was to create awareness regarding air pollution in the city.

Mr. Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director General, CSE

On the World Habitat Day, Sushant University welcomed Mr. Chandra Bhushan, the Deputy Director General of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) to share some interesting ideas on environment and urbanization. The take away of the talk was to accept the inescapable reality of the fast urbanizing world, mainly in the developing countries and Global South.

A three-member team from the School of Natural and Built Environment (SNBE) led by Dr. M. Satish Kumar, Director of Internationalization, SNBE, Queens University Belfast, United Kingdom visited SSAA & SPD on 26th October 2018. He was accompanied by Dr. Sarah Lappin, Director of Education for Post Graduate Studies in SNBE, St. Stephan McCay, Former Head of Discipline of Planning, SNBE and Prof. Michael McGarry, Professor of Architecture.

The delegation had a meeting with Dr. Raj Singh, Vice Chancellor, Sushant University, Prof. Vibhuti Sachdev, Dean and other senior faculty members and programme heads of SSAA & SPD. Mr. Himanshu Sanghani, Associate Dean, SSAA presented the existing academic programmes and collaborations. SNBE team presented about their existing academic and research programmes. The visiting delegation also interacted with the students from Planning and Architecture.

The institutes agreed to engage in academic and research collaborations. A generic MoU was proposed which was agreed by the delegation.

A three-member team from the School of Natural and Built Environment (SNBE) led by Dr. M. Satish Kumar, Director of Internationalization, SNBE, Queens University Belfast, United Kingdom visited SSAA & SPD on 26th October 2018. He was accompanied by Dr. Sarah Lappin, Director of Education for Post Graduate Studies in SNBE, St. Stephan McCay, Former Head of Discipline of Planning, SNBE and Prof. Michael McGarry, Professor of Architecture.

The delegation had a meeting with Dr. Raj Singh, Vice Chancellor, Sushant University, Prof. Vibhuti Sachdev, Dean and other senior faculty members and programme heads of SSAA & SPD. Mr. Himanshu Sanghani, Associate Dean, SSAA presented the existing academic programmes and collaborations. SNBE team presented about their existing academic and research programmes. The visiting delegation also interacted with the students from Planning and Architecture. The institutes agreed to engage in academic and research collaborations. A generic MoU was proposed which was agreed by the delegation.

On December 4, Sushant University, Gurgaon launched Sushant School of Planning and Development (SPD) at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The participants represented policy makers, Planners, academics, scholars, technologists, philanthropists, and senior representatives from corporate sector and international agencies.

The Launch event was inaugurated by Shri Vijender Gupta, Leader of Opposition, Government of NCT of Delhi. Shri. Pranav Sushant, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Sushant API and Mrs. Sheetal Sushant, Trustees of Sushant University, Dr. Raj Singh, Vice Chancellor graced the occasion of the launch. Dr. Ruth Kattumuri, Founder and Co-Director, LSE India Observatory delivered the Keynote Address and shared her experiences in Internationalising education with the august audience.

The discussions during the event situated the School’s thinking within the contemporary urban discourses. The day long deliberations had three panel discussions, “Reconfiguring Planning Education for the New World Order”, “Education for an Urbanising Planet: Inducting Urban Planning into School Curricula” and “Sustainable Development Goals: Global Goals, Local Business”.

Iterating the fact that the future of planning lies in geospatial intelligence, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Sushant API, Shri. Pranav Sushant offered to partner with SPD through establishment of a Centre of Excellence in GIS. Mrs. Sheetal Sushant observed that the void of a common forum for planning schools need to be filled for which she mooted the idea of a Forum of Planning Schools in India.