WELL Labs' Launch Poster

WELL Labs Launch at IIC Delhi on July 26

New Research and Innovation Centre to Work on Land Degradation and Water Management

    • Leading agricultural economist Dr Ashok Gulati to lead a panel discussion about planning for an uncertain future.

    • WELL Labs to release a report ‘Farmer Responses to Solar Irrigation in India. Agent-Based Modelling to Understand Sustainable Transitions’.

    New Delhi: The Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) group of institutions now includes an environmental research centre to address issues related to land degradation, rural livelihoods and water management. Joining Krea University, J-Pal South Asia, (LEAD) and other centres conducting pioneering research in their fields, is Water, Environment, Land and Livelihoods (WELL) Labs.

    President of IFMR, Mr Kapil Viswanathan will formally launch the new organisation at the India International Centre in New Delhi on July 26 at 3.30 pm.

    ‘The launch of WELL Labs promises to be a boost to our efforts to find sustainable solutions to humanity’s growing needs in a finite planet,’ he says.

    Based in Bengaluru, this new centre seeks to address the grand challenges of our time pertaining to land and water by working closely with governments, businesses, multilateral institutions and civil society groups to co-create a robust research and innovation agenda. Very few organisations span the range from research to impact, which is why WELL Labs places great emphasis on translating the research they do into measurable societal impacts.

    The centre is broadly split into two programmes — Urban Water and Rural Futures. The former addresses challenges related to wastewater management and floods, and the latter addresses degradation of agricultural land and falling incomes among smallholder farmers in India’s dryland districts.

    Dr Veena Srinivasan is the Executive Director of WELL Labs. She previously led the Centre for Social and Environmental Innovation (CSEI) at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), and has over 20 years of experience in water management. She received her PhD from Stanford University and is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

    ‘Humanity faces grave threats—climate change, land degradation, groundwater depletion, pollution of rivers and lakes on one hand; increasing income inequality, unliveable cities and water and food insecurity on the other. If humans are to survive, we need to effect a change of course and the impact has to be at a large-enough scale,’ says Dr. Srinivasan.

    Philanthropist and founder of Arghyam foundation, Ms Rohini Nilekani, says that we need deep scientific research to build a solid evidence base. ‘We need new forms of innovation and experimentation to understand what public infrastructure and what community capabilities we need to build to prepare for this uncertain future. I think WELL Labs is very uniquely placed to work across Samaaj, Sarkaar and Bazaar to help build skills and capacities in people to co-create and design better ecosystems and evidence-based solutions.’

    WELL Labs will also launch a report titled, ‘Farmer Responses to Solar Irrigation in India. Agent-Based Modelling to Understand Sustainable Transitions’.

    ‘There’s a wealth of practitioner and research knowledge that has been built over the last few decades, and there’s a strong need to take this mainstream and to anyone who needs it. There’s also a need to build evidence around this and bring it to policy. WELL Labs has decided to do this, which is very unique” says Mr Sameer Shisodia, CEO of Rainmatter Foundation, a key partner of WELL Labs along with EAWAG, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and India Climate Collaborative among others.

    The event includes a panel discussion on envisioning sustainable futures. Leading agricultural economist Dr Ashok Gulati will talk about how we can anticipate future environmental challenges and chart roadmaps to address them effectively.

    About IFMR

    Established in 1970 as a not-for-profit society, the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) was set up to provide research-based inputs to industries and the government in the areas of finance and economics. The current Board of Governors is headed by Mr R Seshasayee, Chairman, IndusInd Bank Ltd, Mumbai, and includes Mr N Vaghul, ex-Chairman of ICICI Bank; Ms Nayantara Kothari, Director of Kothari Safe Deposits Ltd; and Mr Kapil Viswanathan, President of IFMR.

    IFMR Society is the sponsoring body of Krea University — a state private university in Andhra Pradesh. Krea University is listed in the University Grants Commission (UGC) website.

     

    Please reach out to Kaavya ([email protected]) if you would like to speak to Dr. Srinivasan and get more information about the new organisation.