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CENTRES Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development (ACESSD) Director : Prof. (Dr.) A. P. Thomas
Government of Kerala has identified the School for the establishment of an Inter-university Centre, Advanced Centre of Environmental Studies and Sustainable Development. It has been envisaged as a common centre where all branches of Science, Social Science as well as Humanities converge so as to facilitate the conduct of programmes with inter-disciplinary dimension. The Centre also visualizes the presence of multidisciplinary scholars, scientists, educators, development practitioners, international experts and professionals who could discuss and find solutions to issues of sustainable development from an environmental and holistic perspective to suit the developmental needs in the regional, national and international levels. There are Science and Social Science groups to coordinate the academic, research and extension programmes.
The Centre has the state of the art facilities for advanced level research. It works with an open-minded approach and established linkages with various National and International Institutes and Universities for collaborative works and exchange programmes. Researchers and professionals under the International, National and Regional Desks of the Centre give the strength and motivation for the activities.
The centre began its activities with the formulation of certain inter-disciplinary courses suitable to the students of the other departments in the campus. These interdisciplinary courses were designed in consultation with faculties representing various departments of the University. The Centre envisages to extend these inter-disciplinary courses to other university students of the state in future. ACESSD also focuses on international and national level collaborative research programmes in climate change, waste management, water management, biodiversity studies and various areas of sustainable development.
Outreach Centre
Under the school the University has established an outreach centre named Highrange Environmental Research Centre (HERC), at Nedumkandam, Idukki District, Kerala with an aim to extend its activities beyond the university campus, first of its kind in the university. The centre has taken up various projects pertaining to the resource conservation and environmental problems of Western Ghats. The school also coordinates a Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Ecotourism under the distance education stream of the University at this centre. The Centre is also used for the conduct of research in tribal ecology, biodiversity, pollution, landslides and soil erosion of Western Ghats. |