Environment Support Group in
association with Arunodaya Poirada of Hospet, organized an academic programme involving 36 students
and faculty from the universities
of the United States. The learning
community lived in the cities of Chennai and Bangalore for a month, to
understand the dynamics of Indian, “Cities as part of the Cities in the 21st
century,” course of the International Honors Programme,
offered collaboration with Bard College,
Boston USA. “Bangalore was one among the chosen cities, for the programme
because it is growing fast and is the Silicon Valley of South Asia,” said Prof.
Dave Johnson. Faculty International Honors Programme. In Bangalore, the students
have been exposed to various sections
of society, from Bangalore’s IT sector, to urban slums and villages around
Bangalore and Mysore.
As part of the programme, students travel to cities
in India, Brazil and South Africa. The Environment
Support Group is collaborating with IHP for the India segment of the
programme. The programme ends in Boston, when
students will present their findings and recommendations to a panel
selected from a number of urban academics, activists, and planners.