The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur and the African-Asian Rural Development Organization (AARDO) jointly conducted the international training programme on ‘Mitigating Climate Changes while harnessing Renewable Energy’. The programme concluded successfully with a valedictory function held on November 24 at IIT Kanpur. The training programme, which began on November 17 and went on for a whole week was filled with lectures intertwined with practical experiences. Many eminent speakers were invited to share their work and to interact with the participants during this training programme.

Professor Satyaki Roy, Department of Design, IIT Kanpur; Professor J Ramkumar, Coordinator, RuTAG and MedTech IIT Kanpur; Dr Amandeep Singh, REO of Imagineering Laboratory, IIT Kanpur were the dignitaries present during the valedictory function. Professor Satyaki Roy said, “The workshop is on an issue that countries all over the world are trying to cope up with. We hope that the participants are able to take back some ideas to their respective countries, and basis that, policies are formulated in such a way that it brings positive changes in this field.”

Professor J Ramkumar, Coordinator, RuTAG and MedTech IIT Kanpur said, “I wish all the participants to succeed in their future endeavours. This one week of interaction with all of them has helped us also to look at different perspectives. I hope the hands-on training has aided the participants to understand the subject with more clarity. Let us together try to aid our governments to move towards sustainable technology. I wish all of us will collaborate with each other in the future.”

On behalf of the participants, Mr Lengwe Felix from Zamibia, said, “I thank the organisers for making good arrangements and taking care of us for the whole of the training. We were introduced to many new concepts and we will share this with our governments and take a step towards a sustainable future.”

This jointly-organized course was organized for the benefit of middle and senior-level executives from government departments, ministries, and agriculture engineers and scientists engaged in policy formulation, implementation, planning and appraisals. The objective of the programme was to sensitise participants on using the engineering of renewable energies as a tool to fight back against the impact of climate change.