NCI - Nordic Centre in India
Nordic Centre in India: Study in India: Short Term Courses: Approaching the Environment in India
Short Term Training Course

Approaching the Environment in India

Issues and Methods in the Study
of the Nature-Economy-Society Interface

Bangalore, Karnataka
 

The Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources of the Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, India in collaboration with the Nordic Centre in India (NCI) is organizing a course on new approaches in the study of environmental issues in India. The course is open for graduate students from the Nordic countries. It is a multi-disciplinary course that seeks to introduce students to recent theories and methods in the study of contemporary environmental issues in India.

Approaching the Environment Summer 2009

Participants from Summer 2009

 

Overview

ISEC 2009: Approaching the Environment

Participants from Winter 2008

The Institute
The Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), an autonomous institute devoted to research and training, also contributes to policy reform at Central, State and Local levels.  It is a multi-disciplinary research institution in social sciences.  The Institute, established in 1972 by Professor V K R V Rao, works as a catalyst of social and economic transformation, undertaking analytical and applied studies, employing an inter-disciplinary approach.  Through both macro- and micro-level studies of the economy, polity and society, the Institute provides inputs for policy making. Besides a Ph.D. program the Institute also conducts training courses for researchers, research scholars, government officials and NGOs.

ISEC

Library and Documentation
ISEC has a well-equipped library with more than 100,000 titles and more than 300 Indian and international periodicals.  It also has an impressive collection of pamphlets and documents from foreign and Indian organizations.  It is recognized by the World Bank as a depository library and has a donated collection of Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya, builder of modern Mysore.  The facilities are being upgraded to enhance its user-friendliness.  This involves computerization and reclassification of the books and periodicals in the library.

Location and Infrastructure
ISEC is located at Nagarabhavi, about 5 km from Vijayanagar, and is adjacent to Bangalore University and National Law School of India University. The campus has a residential facility for 77 staff members and hostels for Ph.D. students and visiting scholars.  There is a guest house. The hostel for visitors has 10 single rooms (twin sharing) and ten single rooms all with attached bath and WC as well four suites There are two well-equipped air-conditioned seminar halls and a committee room, an auditorium a staff lounge and cafeteria.  The faculty and students have access to computers, internet and e-mail facilities round the clock.  Recently, a 64-kbps leased line connection from VSNL has been acquired. ISEC is located in Bangalore city known as the Garden City or Silicon Valley of India and is well connected by rail and air. It has an international airport that is well connected to important cities in Europe and Asia.

ISEC Visitors Hostel

ISEC Visitors' Hostel

Content


The course “Approaching the Environment in India” will focus on the economic, social and political aspects of nature and sustainable development. India has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and this, among other things, put tremendous pressures on the country’s natural resources. One read about increasing pollution in urban areas, water shortage, shrinking forests and depletion of biodiversity as well as about conflicts relating to mining, big dams and other energy projects. But what is actually the present state of India’s environment? What are the main environmental problems today, how have these come about and who are the main sufferers? How can the environmental costs of economic development be mitigated? What would “sustainable development” entail in India? Questions like these will be addressed in the course.

To understand the present predicament of the environment in India it is necessary to place this in a historical context. Hence the course will begin by giving an overview of present developments within the field of South Asian environmental history. Here we will among other things discuss the effects of colonialism on nature. It is correct to say, as many have argued, that colonial rule became an “ecological watershed” in India, i.e. a radical shift towards an exploitative form of resource use? Subsequently, in what ways have postcolonial rule altered the management of nature. Here we will particularly focus on three different issues, i.e. forests management, wildlife conservation and the politics of water.

You can have a look at 2011's course schedule here.

Week 1
The first week of the course will give an overview of the ecological history of India, and the Indian environment from different perspectives and sectors such as environment policy, forests,  land and water resources, urbanization, culture, religion and environment,  etc.
 

  1. Ecological History of India
  2. Forestry in India – A Historical Perspective
  3. Environment Policy in India
  4. Fiscal Policy and the Environment in India
  5. Land Degradation in India
  6. Water Resources and Water Quality Issues in India
  7. Indian Agriculture – Sustainability Issues
  8. Culture and Environment: Indian Context
  9. Environment, Ideology and Religion
  10. Gender and Environment – Indian Perspective
  11. Urbanisation and Environment in India
  12. Trade and Environment
Week 2
The second week of the course will introduce participants to theories, methods and applications in environmental economics/ecological economics. Case studies with Indian examples covering biodiversity, wetlands, watersheds, farm forestry, groundwater, common property resources, urban solid waste management, health,  etc will be presented during this phase of the course.

  1. Environmental Economics and Ecological Economics
  2. Valuation Methods in Environmental Economics
  3. Contingent Valuation Method – Critical Appraisal
  4. Growth and Environment – Environmental Kuznets Curve
  5. Sustainable Development – Concept, Indicators, Approaches and Applications
  6. The Economics of Biodiversity Conservation – Case Study
  7. Economic and Institutional Aspects of Wetland Conservation – Case Study
  8. Watershed Development in India – Case Studies
  9. Groundwater Pollution
  10. Economics of farm Forestry
Week 3
The third week of the course will present a few more case studies on the Indian environment as well introduce the participants to political ecology, environmental politics and environmental management as well present case studies on participatory forest and irrigation/water management with Indian  case studies.

  1. Common Property Resources and the Rural Poor
  2. Health and Environment – Case Study
  3. Urban Solid Waste Management in India
  4. Urban Slums
  5. Climate Change and Impact
  6. Political ecology
  7. Environmental Politics
  8. Environmental Governance
  9. Participatory Forest Management
  10. Participatory Irrigation Management and Water Users Organisations
Week 4
The final days of the course will be devoted to seminar presentations by the course participants on assigned or selected topics in the broad area of Indian environment.

Field Visits
This course is fieldwork intensive, and the field sites are updated every year. Typically, there will be two field visits, one at the end of the second week, and the other at the end of the third week.  The first field visit will be to an urban waste water treatment plant.  The second field visit will be to a watershed development project (WDP).  Participants will have an opportunity to see the various activities such as arable and non-arable land development activities, soil and moisture conservation works taken up under WDP and hopefully interact with a watershed development committee or village committee.

Training Methods and Assessment
The course will have three or four morning lectures cum discussions of 45 minutes duration (9.00 am  to 1 pm) from Monday to Friday. The afternoon session (2 to 5 pm) is meant for library work. The second and third Saturdays are for the field trips mentioned above. Course participants will be assessed on the basis of participation in discussions, the performance in seminar presentation, and the paper submitted in the final week of the course. 

Faculty
The faculty of the course will be drawn from ISEC and with invited lecturers from other prominent Indian research institutions and universities. Visiting faculty from NCI will also take part in the course.

Credits
The participants will be awarded 7.5 ECTS credits (or equivalent) after the completion of the course. Attendance, performance in the seminar presentations and final paper submitted will be taken into account for evaluation and awarding credits.

One can also choose to earn 10 ECTS for the same course by doing some extra coursework in the same period of time. Further details will be provided to interested applicants and applicants who come from universites that cannot accomodate a 7.5 ECTS credit transfer.

Costs
The costs will be INR 65 000 (currency converter). The sum covers all local costs, including the course fee, board and lodging, basic course material, shorter excursions and use of the University’s library and medical facilities.
The participants will have to cover their own travel expenses to and from Bangalore, visa application, and medical and travel insurance.

Applications and Selections
Each member university will nominate its own candidates. Details regarding procedure, deadlines and contact persons for your university can be found here.

For any queries related to the course please contact NCI Programme Manager, Christabel Royan.

Final selections will be made by ISEC.

The application should consist of:

  • A letter stating why you wish to take part in the course, your university background (or equivalent), and contact details.
  • A certificate of university registration (a copy of the student card or any other documentation).
  • A CV or other related material

Co-ordinators
The course will be co-ordinated by
Dr. Syed Ajmal Pasha, Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Nagarabhavi, Bangalore - 560 072, India. 
Tel. : 080-3215468, 080-3211115, Fax : 080-3217008, Email : pasha@isec.ac.in, sajmalpasha@yahoo.co.uk

 

Suggested Reading List

The course material will be circulated in a CD. The soft copies of most of the material will be available in PDF format.

Introductory Reading:
Ganguly Sumit & Neil De Votta (eds.) 2003 Understanding Contemporary India 312 pages
Will be sent to the students free of charge.

Essential

A.  Books/Monographs

  1.  Bhattacharya, R.N. (2001), Environmental Economics – An Indian Perspective, Oxford University Press, Delhi.
  1.  Gadgil, Madhav and Ramachandra Guha (1992), This Fissured Land – Ecological History of India’,  Oxford University Press, Delhi.
  1.  Gadgil, Madhav and Ramachandra Guha (1995), Ecology and Equity-Use and Abuse of Nature in Contemporary India, Penguin Books, Middlesex.
  1.  Kadekodi, G.K. (ed.) (2004), Environmental Economics in Practice – Case Studies from India, Oxford University Press, Delhi.
  1.  Kuik, O.J., M V Nadkarni, F H Oosterhuis, G S Sastry and A E Akkerman (1997), Pollution Control in the South and North : A Comparative Assessment Environmental Policy Approaches in India and the Netherlands, Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi (See Chapters 4 and 6).
  1.  Pearce, D, A. Markandya and E.B. Barbier (1997), Blueprint for a Green Economy, Earthscan, London.

B.  Articles

  1.  Baviskar, Amita (2003), 'For a Cultural Politics of Natural Resources', Economic and Political Weekly, 29 November.
  1.  Buekering, Peter van, Sekher Madhushree, Gerlagh Reyer and Kumar Vijay (1999), Analysing Solid Waste in Developing Countries: A Perspective on Bangalore, India, Working Paper No.24, CREED Working Paper Series, IIED, London.
  1.  Gadgil, Madhav and Ramachandra Guha (1999), 'Ecological Conflicts and Environmental Movements in India', Development and Change, Vol. 25, No.1.
  1.  Guha, Ramachandra (1983), ‘Forestry in British and Post-British India: A Historical Analysis’, Economic and Political Weekly, 29 October and 5-12 November issues (in two parts), pp.1882-1896 and pp.1940-47.
  1.  Jodha, N.S. (1996), ‘Common Property Resources and Rural Poor in Dry Regions of India’, Economic and Political Weekly, July 5, pp.1169-81.
  1.  Markandya, A (1992), ‘The Value of the Environment – A State of the Art Survey’ in A. Markandya and J. Richardson (eds.), The Earthscan Reader in Environmental Economies, Earthscan, London, pp.142-166.
  1.  Ninan, K.N. and S. Lakshmikanthamma (1994), Sustainable Development – The Case of Watershed Development in India, International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, (United Kingdom) Vol 1, No.4, pp.229‑238.
  1.  Swain, Ashok (1997), 'Democratic Consolidation? Environmental Movements in India', Asia Survey, Vol. 32, No.12.
  1.  Venkatachalam, L., Environmental Economics and Ecological Economics – Where they can converge, Ecological Economics (article in press).

Additional Reading List (Optional)

A. Books/Monographs

  1.  Arnold, David and R. Guha (1995), Nature, Culture, Imperialism – Essays on the Environmental History of South Asia’ Oxford University Press, Delhi.
  1.  Aziz, Abdul (1994), Urban Poor and Urban Informal Sector, Ashish Publishing House, New Delhi.
  1.  Chopra, Kanchan, Gopal K Kadekodi and M.N. Murthy (1990), ‘Participatory Development – People and Common Property Resources’, Sage Publication, New Delhi.
  1.  Fisher, F.W., and Hager, M.A. (eds.) (1999), ‘Living with Nature: Environmental Politics and Cultural Discourses’, Oxford University Press, Delhi.
  1.  Raju, K.V., et.al. (2004), Water Resources, Volume No.3 as part of a Study of the Indian Farmer: A Millennium Study, Academic Foundation, New Delhi and Department of Agriculture and Co-operation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi, 2004.
  1.  Kadekodi, G.K. (2004), Common Property Resource Management – Reflecting on Theory and the Indian Experience, Oxford University Press, Delhi.
  1.  Krishna, S (1996), ‘Environmental Politics: Peoples Lives and Development Choices’, Sage, New Delhi.
  1.  Nadkarni, M.V. L.S. Prabhakara, and S.A. Pasha (1989), Political Economy of Forest Use and Management, Sage, New Delhi.
  1.  Ninan, K.N. (1996), Forest Use and Management in Japan and India: A Comparative Study, Institute of Developing Economies, VRF Series, No.286, October (read second chapter, section on India).
  1.  Ninan, K.N. (2006), The Economics of Biodiversity Conservation – Valuation in Tropical Forest Ecosystems, Earthscan, London.
  1.  State of the Environment – India 2001, Can be downloaded from http//www.envfor.nic.in; click ‘publications.

B. Articles

  1.  Baumann, Pari and Subir Sinha (2001), ‘Linking Development with Democratic Processes in India: Political Capital and Sustainable Livelihoods Analysis’, ODI Natural Resource Perspectives No.68, June.

  1.  Bisalaiah, S (1995), "Decision Making on Farm Forestry: Role of Socio-Economic and Institutional Factors", Saxena N. C. and Ballabh V. (eds), Farm Forestry in South Asia, Sage Publication, New Delhi.

  1.  Damodaran, A (2002), ‘Conflict of Trade Facilitating and Environmental Regulations on Biodiversity Concerns, World Development, Vol.30, No.7, July.

  1.  Escobar, Arturo (1999) 'After Nature: Steps to an Antiessentialist Political Ecology', Current Anthropology, Vol. 40, No. 1, February.

  1.  Hayes, Jeff (1999), 'Power, Politics and Environmental Movements in the Third World', Environmental Politics, Vol. 81, Issue 1, Spring.

  1.  Madheswaran, S. (2004), ‘Measuring the Value of Life and Limb: Estimating Compensating Wage Differentials among Workers in Chennai and Mumbai, Working Paper No.9-04, South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics, Kathmandu, Nepal, November. Can be downloaded from website: www.sandeeonline.org.

  1.  Puttaswamaiah, S. (2005), ‘Environmental Pressures in Drinking Water Supply: Some Observations from Karnataka’, Working Paper No. 154, Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad.

  1.  Raju K.V. and S. Manasi (2005), ‘Enabling Poor through Institutional Alternatives to Access Drinking Water Supplies in Rural India: A Field Review of Some Best Practices’, www.u.mpl.ird.fr/ur044/projets/textes/Raju.doc.

  1.  Ramachandran, H and G S Sastry (2001) 'An Inventory and Typology of Slums in Bangalore' in Hans Schenk (ed) Living in India's Slums,  New Delhi: Manohar Publishers.

  1.  Robbins, Paul (2000), 'The Practical Politics of Knowing: State Environmental Knowledge and Local Political Economy', Economic Geography, Vol. 76, Issue 2, April.

  1.  Saleth, R Maria  and  G S Sastry (2004) 'Water supply and sanitation sector of Karnataka, India: status, performance and change', Water Policy, 6(3), pp. 161-183.

  1.  Sastry, G.S. (1985), Metropolitan Cities Environment: India, Nagarlok, Vol.XVII, July-September, No.3.

  1.  Srinivasan, J.T. (2005), State Regulation versus Co-management: Evidences from the Cochin Estuarine Fisheries in India, Environment and Development Economics, Vol.10(1), pp. 97-117.

  1.  Venkatachalam, L. (2004), The Contingent Valuation Method: A Review, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Vol.24, pp.89-124.