Exploring Sustainability in the Indian Context

1. Historical Origins & Key Influencers While the idea of living within limits is ancient, the mo...

1. Timeline of Key Milestones This timeline traces the evolution of corporate responsibility from...

1. The Anthropocene: The Age of Humans Definition: The Anthropocene is the proposed current geo...

1. Agenda 2030: A Global Plan of Action What is it? A UN plan of action for "people, planet and...

The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Framework The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) is a core sustainability fram...

1. The Corporate Sustainability Dilemma The lecture poses a central question for students of sust...

The Meteoric Rise of the CSO The demand for high-level sustainability leadership has surged in re...

What is Climate Change? Climate change refers to long-term alterations in global temperatures and...

Deep Ecology vs. Shallow Ecology This is a core philosophical distinction within environmentalism...

The "Pandemic Pause": A Natural Experiment The unprecedented nationwide lockdown offered a tempor...

Guha's Critique of Western Environmentalism Environmental historian Ramachandra Guha argues that ...

Defining the Ecological Footprint The Ecological Footprint is a metric that measures the amount o...

Understanding the Problem Spectrum Not all problems are created equal. They can be classified bas...

Defining a System While there are several definitions, the lecture synthesizes them into a compre...

Why Systems Thinking? The need for a new approach is best captured by Albert Einstein's famous qu...

The Anatomy of a System A system can be broken down into three fundamental components, as illustr...

The Four Levels of the Iceberg 🧊 The model uses the analogy of an iceberg, where only a small tip...

What Are Leverage Points? Leverage points are places within a complex system where a small, targe...

Bridging Two Worlds While they might seem different, systems thinking and entrepreneurship share ...

The Fundamental Dilemma: The Root of the Crisis At the heart of Capra's map is a single, core con...

The Linear Economy: A "Cradle-to-Grave" System "The Story of Stuff" deconstructs the linear mater...

The Problem with "Eco-Efficiency" (Being "Less Bad") The traditional corporate approach to sustai...

The Intellectual Roots The Doughnut model builds on earlier critiques of mainstream economics: ...

Jugaad: The Art of Ingenious Improvisation Jugaad is a Hindi term for an innovative fix or improv...

Defining the Lifecycle Approach The Lifecycle Approach is a holistic method of evaluating the tot...

Externalities are the unpriced, unintended costs or benefits of an economic activity that affect ...

Classification of Economic Goods Goods are categorized based on two key properties: Rivalry and E...

1. Kashmir Floods (2014): A Case of Urban Flooding Causes: Extreme Rainfall Event: Received 15...

Drivers of the Tragedy of the Commons Definition: The drivers are the underlying conditions and i...

1. Game Theory and Sustainability Definition: A tool used in economics and behavioral sciences to...

1. Is the Tragedy of the Commons Inevitable? Garrett Hardin's View: Garrett Hardin, in his influe...

1. Elinor Ostrom’s Core Contributions Elinor Ostrom was the first woman and first political scien...

1. Foundational Period (Pre-1970s) Indian Forest Act (1927): Consolidated laws on forests, tran...

1. The Need for Sustainable Food Systems A sustainable food system ensures food security without ...

Pathways to Sustainable Food Systems 1. Reverse Unsustainable Practices Policy Interventions: In...

Energy and Development 1. Why Energy Matters Definition: Energy is the ability to do work, but ...

Energy: Key Insights and Pathways 1. Why Energy Matters: Key Insights Energy powers progress, d...

Energy Sources, Carriers, and Technologies 1. Key Distinction: Energy Sources vs. Carriers Ener...

1. Progress in Electrification Near-universal access: Over 99.9% of rural households connected ...

1. Financial Challenges Facing DISCOMs Cumulative Losses (2022-23): ₹6.77 lakh crores Key Pres...

1. The Need for "Powering Down" Beyond Efficiency: The Jevons Paradox warns that efficiency gai...

Water is the essence of life, sustaining ecosystems, societies, and economies. Understanding wate...

1. Key Definitions (Do Not Use Interchangeably) Water Shortage: When a person does not have eno...

1. Water Scarcity, Usage, and Quality (Context) Key Definitions: Water Shortage: Lack of water ...

1. Water Scarcity, Usage, and Quality (Context) Key Definitions: Water Shortage: Lack of water ...

1. What is Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)? DPI is a set of open, interoperable, population-s...

1. What are Sectoral DPIs? Sectoral DPIs are domain-specific digital infrastructures built on top...

1. The Lockdown Lesson: Clean Air is Possible During COVID-19 lockdown (2020), air pollution dro...

1. The Scale of the Problem Global and National Context: 13 of the top 20 most polluted cities ...

1. Smart Governance & Data-Driven Approaches Mumbai’s Air Quality Forecasting: Tool: SAFAR (Sys...

1. What is Stubble Burning? Definition: Burning of crop residue (straw/stubble) after harvest ...

1. Scale of the Problem Daily Waste Generation: 145,000 tons (14,500 truckloads) Collection & ...

1. Overview Founder: Wilma Rodrigues (former journalist and tour guide) Origin: Started as an ...

1. Promising Models Across Indian Cities A. Swach Pune Cooperative Scale: 3000+ waste pickers ...

1. Why Measure Sustainability? Management Principle: “What gets measured gets managed” Account...

1. What is the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)? Origin: Proposed by economist Simon Kuznets (...

1. Sustainability Indicators (The "Thermometers") Indicators are specific, numerical metrics that...

1. Case Study 1: Mahogany Project in Bastar (MVAPL) Overview: Project Type: Agroforestry with f...

1. What are Carbon Credits? Definition: A certificate representing 1 ton of CO₂ avoided or remo...

1. Why Companies Report on Sustainability Drivers: Stakeholder Pressure: Customers, investors, ...

1. Importance of ESG Ratings ESG scores, climate rankings, and sustainability indices help inves...

1. What is a Sustainability Transition? A sustainability transition is a fundamental shift in the...

1. Defining the Field Sustainability Transitions (not "sustainable transitions"): Focuses on e...

1. What is the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP)? A core analytical framework used to understand how...

1. Core Insight Technological change is necessary but not sufficient for sustainability transit...

1. Core Concept: Governance ≠ Control Transitions are emergent and contested, not centrally mana...

1. India's Clean Energy Ambition Target: 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030 Includes...

1. Understanding Mindful Consumption Definition: Conscious, intentional choices that enhance pe...

1. Defining Wellbeing Oxford Dictionary: "A state of being healthy, happy, and comfortable." Th...

1. Taking the Pledge: From Resolution to Practice QR Code Access: Join a dedicated WhatsApp gro...

Interview Summary: Key Themes & Takeaways 1. Origins of Paryavaran Mitra Started as a college co...

1. Grassroots Activism & Network Climate Action Sharon Lavin (Louisiana, USA): School teacher t...