Professor Bhaskar Vira, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Cambridge, dey emphasize the importance of focusing on sustainable innovations. Vira, wey be economist, researcher, and educator, don spend over four decades working on issues related to climate and nature crises.
Vira talk say the biggest challenges wey we face no be technical again, but political, social, and economic. He believe say the centuries-old structure of Cambridge University, with its 31 colleges and broad range of academic pursuits, be one of its key strengths in tackling these challenges. He say Cambridge got all the ingredients to make a meaningful contribution because of its academic freedom and emphasis on interdisciplinarity.
Vira’s strategic vision for the University be to harness the energy of its fiercely independent people and institutions. He want every part of Cambridge to push towards the frontiers in efforts to address climate change and biodiversity loss. He plan to encourage interdisciplinarity, provide incentives, and remove obstacles to progress.
For example, Vira help create Pani Pahar – the Water Curriculum, a resource based on a UKRI-funded research project on water security in the Indian Himalayas. This resource now dey used to deliver education platform within a programme of tree plantation drives, waste management, and recycling in Nagaland, India.
Vira’s commitment to using scholarship to inform policy and public debate also include working on a Discovery Channel series on environmental challenges facing India. He believe say with the right incentives, people can actually make a difference.
