Sustainability is the buzz word nowadays, as it should be. But Xavier School of Sustainability (XSoS), Xavier University Bhubaneswar had started shifting focus towards it five years ago with their sustainability summit. This time, the fifth sustainability summit will be held on November 22 and 23 and the theme will be Development to Sustainable Development: SDGs Enabling the Transition. They are organising this conference in partnership with the Global Reporting Initiative and Wipro Foundation at XUB.
Discussions and deliberations
There will be three panel discussions which will be spread across the two days, informs Dr Sutapa Pati, Associate Professor, Sustainability and Academic Dean, XSoS. Taking us through the panel discussions and panellists in great details, she informs that the first panel will be about Accelerating Achievements of SDGs: Critical Entry Points for Indian Businesses. On the panel will be representatives from companies like JFW, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the panel will be moderated by Aditi Haldar, Director, Global Reporting Initiative Regional Hub South Asia. The second panel will be about Localising SDGs: Corporate and State Government Examples. While the session will be moderated by Pratyush Kumar Panda from ACC, the panellists will be Sujeet Kumar, Advisor at Special Development Council, Government of Odisha and representatives from companies like Future Group, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services and so on. New Frontiers in Research and Innovation for Sustainable Development will be the third panel while the panellists will be a senior scientist from ISRO, CEO of HSE Risk, head of Startup Odisha and so on. One can expect products and posters, which align with the SDGs, made by school students and three start-ups will also display their prototypes.
Mission and vision
Talking about sustainability, Prof Pati says, "Sustainability is a collaborative effort. And platforms like the sustainability summit helps students come together and deliberate on the topic. Because all our panellists are frontline workers in their field, experts and have their own knowledge base, students have the chance of listening to different perspectives and opinions." She also informs that many of their partners have taken classes at XUB and students have even had the chance to intern with them. So this summit helps them build a strong connection. "We want to help take forward the sustainability discourse, especially with regards to SDGs."
Dr Pati also suggests that we must follow SDGs, especially those that talk about lifestyle and behavioural changes. "We need an education that meets the needs of the society, enables the building of a sustainable community and inspires students to take up social causes." She informs how XUB students have travelled to remote areas of Kandhamal and nearby communities recently to establish a connection with them and work for them. Similarly, XUB has done and, assures us, will do a lot more towards the cause of sustainability.
