The University of Toronto India Foundation (UTIF) in collaboration with IIT Madras' School of Sustainability and the University of Toronto's School of Cities, inaugurated the Cities of Care Conference at the IIT Madras Research Park, bringing together leading global universities, research institutions, policymakers, and practitioners to advance climate action and rethink sustainable urban development for Indian cities.

Cities of Care convened 90+ global researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and funders to explore climate action through a Water–Food–Waste systems lens.

The event featured plenaries, three thematic research sessions, 15 research presentations, and a cross-sector panel connecting global and Indian voices on urban complexity across water, food, and waste systems.

The two-day conference was centred on the water, food, and waste systems, a critical yet often fragmented area of urban planning. 

UTIF, in collaboration with sustainability-focused media platform REVOLVE, released the Sustainable India 2025 country report, a comprehensive overview of India’s sustainability and climate action developments from across cities, states and sectors.

Indumathi M Nambi, Professor in Civil Engineering Department & School of Sustainability, IIT Madras said- “The lab-to-market journey is long and challenging. We need platforms like this educating researchers to work on real-world problems, enabling governments to create supportive policies and programs, and bringing businesses and academia together to identify challenges and fund applied research and technology development. It is equally important to educate investors to value impact metrics alongside financial returns.”