With funding support from the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), UCL and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai ran a virtual programme for UCL students
During February Reading Week, UCL Study Abroad ran a virtual programme in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai.
The programme focused on sustainable development through the lens of Mumbai, with online sessions delivered by TISS academics, Mumbai-based field agencies, UCL academic staff and UCL alumni in India. As well as learning about sustainable development and related themes, participants also worked in teams, considering specific Sustainable Development Goals and how they might be achieved in Mumbai.
The week concluded with a series of student presentations delivered by the different teams that brought together the participants' new knowledge and understanding of sustainable development as well as their own disciplinary expertise to consider one specific SDG from the Mumbai perspective, with proposals of how that might be tackled locally.
Professor Monica Lakhanpaul, Pro-Vice-Provost for South Asia, said of the presentations and programme more broadly:
“It was a privilege to listen to the outstanding presentations by the UCL students. I was delighted to see how the students came together in their interdisciplinary teams, working with colleagues and students from TISS, to address important Sustainable Development Goals, all within the week-long programme. It was truly an exemplar of how to learn together on global issues and hear the perspective from the local community."
Of the UCL-TISS collaboration, Dr Amit Khandelwal from the UCL Global Engagement Office added:
“Underpinned by the work of the Study Abroad team, the Global Engagement Office and our counterparts from TISS, we hope the programme sets the tone for similar initiatives and programmes for our students to undertake in the future. Through the programme, we have also enhanced our institutional relationship with TISS, and we look forward to further future collaboration.”
On the TISS side, Professor Madhushree Sekhar concluded:
“We at the Office for International Affairs at TISS had a great time working with the UCL in designing and conducting this programme. We were delighted to host this group of keen students from variety of study backgrounds. Their enthusiasm and interest to learn was impressive. The outstanding student presentations at the end of the week was testimony of a very productive interaction between the students, coordinators and faculties over the week. Overall, the outcome of the programme is very encouraging for future collaboration between UCL and TISS and we look forward to conducting more innovative programmes in future.”
If you have any questions about the programme, please contact the Study Abroad team via askUCL.