During a recent trip to India, IHS Director David Dodman and Academic team Maartje van Eerd, Alonso Ayala, Jan Fransen and Vera Safronova hosted a workshop in Chennai part of the LDE partnership. Furthermore, Dr Dodman had the opportunity to connect with IHS alumni in India, thereby strengthening the relationship between IHS and its esteemed alumni community.
Projects & Workshops
IHS Director, David Dodman, had the privilege to participate in the LDE workshop given by IHS team, Maartje van Eerd, Alonso Ayala, Jan Fransen, and Vera Safronova. The subject of the training was Working towards Digital Inclusion of the Urban Poor in India, Indonesia, and Kenya. The workshop was attended by research teams from Chennai, Yogyakarta, and Nairobi, as well as colleagues from Leiden University, TU Delft, and ISS. The project contributed in making progress on generating outputs and potentially becoming both policy-relevant and academically significant. The workshop was hosted at Anna University, where IHS had the opportunity to meet with the Vice-Chancellor. He expressed his support for setting up a Living Lab to examine issues of urban displacement, including responses to disasters and risks.
While in Delhi, David delivered a lecture on Municipal Services and Climate Change: Impacts and Opportunities in Low- and Middle-Income cities, at the Indian Institute of Public Administration's National Workshop on U-20 Agenda for Municipal Services. The lecture was attended by around 100 public officials from India and was held in response to the Urban 20 agenda, associated with India's hosting of the G20 in 2023.
Furthermore, David delivered a lecture on Addressing Urban Informality and Risk: Global Perspectives, at the Human Settlement Management Institute's Global workshop on Formal Solutions to Informal Settlements, which was attended by about 30 public officials from around the world.
“The centre will provide training to people to become digitally skilled”
- Maartje van Eerd
IHS India Alumni Association
During this visit, IHS organized a gathering of the IHS India Alumni Association and met with approximately 25 alumni who had studied at IHS between 1975 and 2022. The event also included the launch of two books by AK Jain, an IHS Alumnus, one on urban development in Delhi and another called A-Z of Sustainable Development, which are now part of the IHS library.
While in Delhi, David attended meetings with senior officials at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, the National Institute for Urban Affairs (NIUA), and the Housing and Urban Development Corporation. These three organizations are major government players in urban development in India, and many IHS alumni work there. For instance, the Director of NIUA and IHS alumnus, Hitesh Vaidya, met with Dr Dodman to discuss how the two institutions can collaborate on creating sustainable and innovative urban development.
Overall, the visit provided opportunities for IHS to strengthen ties with government organizations and alumni in India and to contribute to important discussions on urban development and digital inclusion.
