Rising out of 'Fani'

What does it take to follow a sustainable approach for a smart campus? A headstrong Campus Community.

In May 2019, Odisha was hit by devastating 'Fani', which brought severe cyclonic storm with 3-minute sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) since 1999 Odisha Cyclone.

Despite the infrastructural and resource loss, the confidence showed by the educational campuses in Odisha is truly commendable. The 'Clean and Smart Campus' award was launched on 13^th June 2019 for the higher education institutes of All India Council of Higher Technical Institutes (AICTE) of Ministry of Human Resource Development in partnership with TERRE Policy Centre and International Institute of Waste.

Congratulations to Aryan Institute of Engineering & Technology and C V Raman College of Engineering of Bhubaneswar for being the shortlisted campuses. It was indeed one of its kind experiences that I had while visiting these campuses for scrutiny as a part of an expert team. What really amazes us is the unwavering enthusiasm of these campuses to bring what they have lost and to stand stronger than before. These campuses are getting back on its feet, this time making sure that they are well prepared for such unfortunate calamities. Smart Campus Cloud Network - SCCN (see: sccnhub.com) is an integral part of this competition, as it aligns the campus activities to UN Sustainable Development Goals and helps campuses in the national missions of India. 

The winners of the award will be announced soon !

The powerful cyclone blew off roofs, damaged power lines and solar panels, and uprooted huge number of trees planted by them in recent years. While the management are recovering these damages, the faculties are running awareness and preparedness campaigns for the students.

Such motivated campuses are always encouraged to become member of SCCN to further leverage their sustainable activities.

- Dinah Gengmei, Project Leader TERRE Policy Centre