State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

India5

  • Indian Sundarban

    Indian Sundarban

    We arrived in Kolkata, and filmed by the Hooghly River. While it is no longer the main channel of the Ganges, it is still the Holy Ganges and we saw a funeral procession spreading ashes of a loved one while filming there. Then a 5 hour trip by car, ferry, rickshaw and boat to the…

  • Geology and Filming in Mizoram

    Geology and Filming in Mizoram

    In the small town of Kolasib, we stayed in Hotel Cloud 9. I had been told since I was a child that I was always off on Cloud 9 and now I was actually here. However, the electricity wasn’t for the first few hours, so showers were cold, but the dinner was hot.

  • New Course on International Education Trends

    Education advisors from Columbia University, in collaboration with Avanti Fellows and Central Square Foundation, are implementing a new course, “Emerging International Education Trends with Focus on the Indian Education System,” in early to mid-2015 at Hindupat Institute of Teacher Training, Jiwaji University in Raghogarh, Madhya Pradesh, India.

  • How to Make Good on the Promise of Water as a Human Right

    How to Make Good on the Promise of Water as a Human Right

    Is the creation of a National Water Framework Law or other stronger national legislation the right approach to creating a more sustainable water regime in India? To answer that question, one has to look at the current constitutional status of water rights in the country.

  • Indian Government Takes Steps on Agriculture, Water, Climate

    Indian Government Takes Steps on Agriculture, Water, Climate

    In terms of the urgent need to reform agriculture, address climate change and promote sustainable watershed development, the Indian government’s new budget provides for a number of promising initiatives.

  • In India, Reducing the Dependency on Monsoon Precipitation

    In India, Reducing the Dependency on Monsoon Precipitation

    The Centers for International Projects Trust has undertaken various low cost technological innovations to reduce the amount of water used for the production of rice and wheat in India. Such innovations not only reduce water usage in agriculture but also make farmers less vulnerable to climate variability, especially as it relates to the monsoon season.

  • This Dance Class Could Be Worth $1 Million

    This Dance Class Could Be Worth $1 Million

    You could be dancing a Dollu Kunitha in Karnataka, or a Kpanlogo in Ghana, or a samba in Rio. Dance is integral to most cultures, and it’s also a social and fun way to improve physical fitness. It can help prevent cardiovascular disease and control weight, among other health benefits. And that is the point…

  • Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    When the Environmental Defense Fund asked me to measure how biogas cook stoves were changing the lives of farmers in rural India, there wasn’t a word in that question with which I was comfortable. Having just graduated from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, I had never done fieldwork; and the concept of a biogas…

  • Tensiometers in Punjab

    Tensiometers in Punjab

    So far, tensiometers have been tested in four central districts of Punjab, initially with more than 500 farmers the first year, and then peaking with an additional 4,500 farmers in 2011 before testing was scaled back. Data showed, on average, a 30 percent reduction in the water used in the test plots when compared with…

  • Indian Sundarban

    Indian Sundarban

    We arrived in Kolkata, and filmed by the Hooghly River. While it is no longer the main channel of the Ganges, it is still the Holy Ganges and we saw a funeral procession spreading ashes of a loved one while filming there. Then a 5 hour trip by car, ferry, rickshaw and boat to the…

  • Geology and Filming in Mizoram

    Geology and Filming in Mizoram

    In the small town of Kolasib, we stayed in Hotel Cloud 9. I had been told since I was a child that I was always off on Cloud 9 and now I was actually here. However, the electricity wasn’t for the first few hours, so showers were cold, but the dinner was hot.

  • New Course on International Education Trends

    Education advisors from Columbia University, in collaboration with Avanti Fellows and Central Square Foundation, are implementing a new course, “Emerging International Education Trends with Focus on the Indian Education System,” in early to mid-2015 at Hindupat Institute of Teacher Training, Jiwaji University in Raghogarh, Madhya Pradesh, India.

  • How to Make Good on the Promise of Water as a Human Right

    How to Make Good on the Promise of Water as a Human Right

    Is the creation of a National Water Framework Law or other stronger national legislation the right approach to creating a more sustainable water regime in India? To answer that question, one has to look at the current constitutional status of water rights in the country.

  • Indian Government Takes Steps on Agriculture, Water, Climate

    Indian Government Takes Steps on Agriculture, Water, Climate

    In terms of the urgent need to reform agriculture, address climate change and promote sustainable watershed development, the Indian government’s new budget provides for a number of promising initiatives.

  • In India, Reducing the Dependency on Monsoon Precipitation

    In India, Reducing the Dependency on Monsoon Precipitation

    The Centers for International Projects Trust has undertaken various low cost technological innovations to reduce the amount of water used for the production of rice and wheat in India. Such innovations not only reduce water usage in agriculture but also make farmers less vulnerable to climate variability, especially as it relates to the monsoon season.

  • This Dance Class Could Be Worth $1 Million

    This Dance Class Could Be Worth $1 Million

    You could be dancing a Dollu Kunitha in Karnataka, or a Kpanlogo in Ghana, or a samba in Rio. Dance is integral to most cultures, and it’s also a social and fun way to improve physical fitness. It can help prevent cardiovascular disease and control weight, among other health benefits. And that is the point…

  • Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    Of Cow Dung, Cook Stoves and Sustainability in Practice

    When the Environmental Defense Fund asked me to measure how biogas cook stoves were changing the lives of farmers in rural India, there wasn’t a word in that question with which I was comfortable. Having just graduated from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, I had never done fieldwork; and the concept of a biogas…

  • Tensiometers in Punjab

    Tensiometers in Punjab

    So far, tensiometers have been tested in four central districts of Punjab, initially with more than 500 farmers the first year, and then peaking with an additional 4,500 farmers in 2011 before testing was scaled back. Data showed, on average, a 30 percent reduction in the water used in the test plots when compared with…