Environment Policy and Action Youth Fellowship | An Online International Summer School Program | A Two-Month Online Immersive Introductory Leadership Certificate Training Fellowship Program | May-July 2024 | IMPRI #WebPolicyLearning
#IMPRI Center for Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development (CECCSD), New Delhi, invites you to #WebPolicyLearning
An Online International Summer School Program
A Two-Month Online Immersive Introductory Leadership Certificate Training Fellowship Program on
EPAYF Environment Policy and Action Youth Fellowship
Details of the #WebPolicyLearning:
Dates: May (18, 25); June (1, 5, 8, 15, 22, 29) & July 11, 2024
Consecutive Saturday afternoons & Special sessions on World Environment Day (June 5th, 2024)
Time: 3 – 5:30 p.m.
Platform: Zoom
Course Fee: INR 11,000 (inclusive of GST)
Discounted fees: For Professionals: 8300 | For Students: 7400
Limited Seats are available for partial scholarships.
Write to learningatimpri@gmail.com
Registration Form: https://forms.gle/c2P9Q3AJEvkNRxdQ9
Payment Link: https://pages.razorpay.com/impricoursefee
Alternatively, can use any payment method from here:
https://www.impriindia.com/payment-details/
NOTE: Please don’t proceed to pay without filling out the registration form given above.
For queries, write to: learningatimpri@gmail.com
About
The Environment Policy and Action Youth Fellowship (EPAYF), a pioneering initiative by the IMPRI Center for Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development (CECCSD), New Delhi, offers an immersive two-month online summer school experience. This innovative program is meticulously designed to introduce the next generation of leaders to the nuanced interplay between environmental policy and sustainable development. Drawing inspiration from the pivotal Stockholm Declaration, EPAYF is committed to reigniting participants’ dedication to environmental stewardship and sustainable living practices, highlighting the crucial relationship between the well-being of our planet and the prosperity of human societies.
At its core, the EPAYF serves as a comprehensive Introductory Leadership Certificate Training Fellowship, focusing on developing participants’ critical thinking, analytical skills, and global perspectives. The curriculum bridges theoretical knowledge with real-world applications, granting fellows a deep dive into the intricate layers of environmental policy, effective community engagement, and the pursuit of global sustainability objectives. Through a carefully structured learning journey, the program aims to empower individuals to critically evaluate legislative frameworks, the intricate dynamics of private sector participation, and the essentiality of community partnerships, all in the service of crafting a more sustainable and just world.
Central to the fellowship’s educational approach is its integration of essential topics that span the breadth of environmental action and policy. Instead of presenting these as detached subjects, the program weaves them into a cohesive narrative that equips fellows with the understanding and skills needed to drive impactful change. This includes fostering robust community ownership and collaboration, addressing the unique challenges faced by minority groups due to environmental decisions, ensuring that legislative efforts align with contemporary environmental needs, critically assessing the real-world progress towards Sustainable Development Goals, exploring the symbiotic relationship between the private sector and environmental sustainability, and redefining the principles of eco-tourism to support conservation and community empowerment. Together, these elements prepare participants to emerge as influential leaders, ready to contribute to the environmental dialogue and action in their communities and beyond.
For Whom:
This fellowship is tailored for professionals, researchers, policymakers, and individuals passionate about addressing environmental challenges through effective policy interventions. Participants from diverse backgrounds, including environmental science, public policy, law, and related fields, will find this fellowship invaluable for advancing their careers and contributing meaningfully to sustainable development.
Benefits of taking the Course
Participants would:
- Learn from globally renowned scholars, and practitioners.
- Gain first-hand insights and networking opportunities
- Get course outline and reading list from the experts for learning
- Get access to session videos for 15 days
- Opportunity to write research articles/essays on relevant topics.
- Present findings creatively via presentations or preferred audio/visual mediums.
- Opportunity to convert essays/articles into book chapters for an IMPRI publication with ISBN.
- Enhance scholarly writing, research, and presentation skills.
- Obtain prestigious publication credit to further academic and professional credentials.
- Receive a certificate of completion
Upon successful completion of the program, each participant will be awarded a Certificate of Completion.
Creative Project
As an opportunity to become an individual chapter contributing author in our special edition of IMPRI Books, the program offers participants the unique opportunity to delve into a spectrum of pressing environmental issues, fostering deep engagement and impactful contributions. Participants can choose topics from varied areas of interests such as sustainable development, climate change, participatory governance, waste management, natural resources conservation, clean energy, gender & climate change or any other such environment policy & action related issue.
Fellows will be expected to present their creative project in either forms of visual, aural or narrative mediums. These may include but are not limited to songs, performance poetry, paintings, photo essays and short films.
Please note: Fellows will have to submit a research article, which can include media for the anthology and will also have to present the same in either form mentioned above on the dates allocated for the presentation.

Program Experts
Chair: Ms Bhargavi S Rao, Independent Researcher & Educator, Environment Activist, Bengaluru; Visiting Senior Fellow (Honorary), IMPRI
Experts
Mr Tikender Singh Panwar, Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh ; Visiting Senior Fellow, IMPRI;
Dr Abi Tamim Vanak, Director of the Centre for Policy Design at ATREE
Mr Soumya Dutta, Co-Convener, South Asian People’s Action on Climate Crisis (SAPACC), New Delhi; Visiting Senior Fellow, IMPRI
Mr Debadityo Sinha, Senior Resident Fellow and Lead, Climate & Ecosystems team at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, New Delhi; Visiting Senior Fellow, IMPRI
Dr Reazul Ahsan, Associate Professor, Urban Ecology Program, University of Utah Asia Campus, Incheon, South Korea
Prof Krishna Raj, Professor at Centre for Economic Studies and Policy, Institute for Social and economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, India; Visiting Professor, IMPRI
Dr Parashram Jakappa Patil, Agricultural and Natural Resources Economist; Visiting Senior Fellow, IMPRI
Dr Ram Boojh, CEO Möbius Foundation
Prof Anil K Gupta, Professor & Head, ECDRM; HoD, Director of Projects & Centre of Excellence & International Cooperation, National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), New Delhi
Mr Himanshu Shekhar, Senior Editor (Political and Current Affairs), New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV India), New Delhi
Mr Ranjan Panda, Convenor, Water Initiatives Odisha
Ms Bhavreen Kandhari, Founder, Warrior Moms
Prof Shyamala Mani, Senior Advisor, WASH and Waste Management, Centre for Environmental Health, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI); Retd. Professor, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), New Delhi; Visiting Professor, IMPRI
Dr Aditya Gusain, Principal Environmental Specialist, Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai
Ms Meena Vaidyanathan, Founder of Niiti Consulting
Prof Sas Biswas, Professor & Head, Department of Forestry of Dolphin, Post Graduate Institute of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, Dehradun, Uttarakhand; Visiting Professor (Honorary), IMPRI
Prof Vibhuti Patel, Visiting Distinguished Professor, IMPRI
Mr T K Arun, Senior Journalist and Columnist, New Delhi
Dr Jyoti Parikh, Executive Director of Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), New Delhi
Mr Nityanand Jayaraman, member Vettiver Collective; writer and researcher based in Chennai
Ms Bhargavi S Rao, Independent Researcher & Educator, Environment Activist, Bengaluru; Visiting Senior Fellow (Honorary), IMPRI
Convenors
Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava, Entrepreneur, researcher, and educator, Eco-Development and Research cell, Ahmedabad; Visiting Senior Fellow, IMPRI
Ms Suhasini Ayer, Principal Architect, Auroville Design Consultants; Visiting Senior Fellow (Honorary), IMPRI
Prof Utpal Kumar De, Professor of Economics at North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India; Visiting Professor, IMPRI
Dr Simi Mehta, CEO & Editorial Director, IMPRI
Dr Arjun Kumar, Director, IMPRI
Program Time Structure
| Environment Policy and Action Youth Fellowship EPAYF | ||
| An Online International Summer School Program | ||
| A Two-Month Online Immersive Introductory Leadership Certificate Training Fellowship Program | ||
| May (18, 25) & June (1, 5, 8, 15, 22, 29) 2024 | Zoom | 3 – 5:30 pm | ||
| Consecutive Saturday afternoons & Special sessions on World Environment Day (June 5th, 2024) | ||
| IMPRI #WebPolicyLearning | ||
| Time | Topic | Expert/s |
| Day 1: May 18, 2024 (Saturday) | ||
| 3:00-3:15 pm | Introduction & Chair Opening Remarks | Ms Bhargavi S Rao |
| 3:15-4:00 pm | Keynote Speech – Environment Policy & Sustainable Development: Issues & Challenges | Dr Abi Tamim Vanak |
| 4:00-4:45 pm | Environment Action through Participatory Governance | Mr Tikender Singh Pawar |
| 4:45-5:30 pm | Participants Introduction and Fellowship Creative Project Discussion | Team |
| Day 2 | May 25, 2024 (Saturday) | ||
| 3:00-3:45 pm | Climate Change: Action, Impact & Way Forward | Mr Soumya Dutta |
| 3:45-4:30 pm | Environmental Clearance and Forest Clearance | Mr Debadityo Sinha |
| 4:30-5:15 pm | Environment, Migration and Urbanisation | Dr Reazul Ahsan |
| 5:15-5:30 pm | Essay Topic Selection Discussion | Team |
| Day 3 | June 1, 2024 (Saturday) | ||
| 3:00-3:45 pm | Environmental Governance, Economy & Development | Prof Krishna Raj |
| 3:45-4:30 pm | Agrobiodiversity & Nutritional Security | Dr. Parashram Patil |
| 4:30-5:15 pm | Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) | Ms Meena Vaidyanathan |
| 5:15-5:30 pm | Fellowship Creative Project Discussion | Team |
| Day 4 | June 5, 2024 (Wednesday) World Environment Day | ||
| 3:00-3:45 pm | World Environment Day: Decades in Highlights | Team |
| 3:45-4:30 pm | On the Occassion of World Environment Day – Disaster Resilience | Prof Anil K Gupta |
| 4:30-5:15 pm | On the Occassion of World Environment Day – Environment Action Advocacy | Mr Himanshu Shekhar |
| Day 5 | June 8, 2024 (Saturday) | ||
| 3:00-3:45 pm | Rivers, Communities, Ecology & Environment | Mr Ranjan Panda |
| 3:45-4:30 pm | Air Pollution & Inter-generational Equity | Ms Bhavreen Kandhari |
| 4:30-5:15 pm | Circular Economy and Waste Management | Prof Shyamala Mani |
| 5:15-5:30 pm | Fellowship Creative Project Discussion | Team |
| Day 6 | June 15, 2024 (Saturday) | ||
| 3:00-3:45 pm | Clean Energy Future | Dr Aditya Gusain |
| 3:45-4:30 pm | On the Occassion of World Environment Day – Climate Action towards Sustainable Development | Dr Ram Boojh |
| 4:30-5:15 pm | Forests, Soil, Biodiversity & Environment | Prof Sas Biswas |
| 5:15-5:30 pm | Fellowship Creative Project Discussion | Team |
| Day 7 | June 22, 2024 (Saturday) | ||
| 3:00-3:45 pm | Women & Environment Action | Prof Vibhuti Patel |
| 3:45-4:30 pm | Environment, Social Inclusion, Communities & Natural Resources | Ms Bhargavi S Rao |
| 4:30-5:15 pm | Action For Environment | Mr Nityanand Jayaraman |
| 5:15-5:30 pm | Fellowship Creative Project Discussion | Team |
| Day 8 | June 29, 2024 (Saturday) | ||
| 3:00-3:45 pm | Environment & Climate Change Discourse: Business as Usual | Mr TK Arun |
| 3:45-4:30 pm | Valedictory Session – Environment & Future | Dr Jyoti Parikh |
| 4:30-5:15 pm | Creative Project Presentations by Fellows | Team |
| 5:15-5:30 pm | Feedback Session & Chair’s Closing Remarks | Ms Bhargavi S Rao |
| July 11, 2024 | Creative Project Essay Submission | ||
Fellows Profile & Research Title
| EPAYF Environment Policy and Action Youth Fellowship | ||||||
| An Online International Summer School Program | ||||||
| Consecutive Saturday afternoons & Special sessions on World Environment Day (June 5th, 2024) | ||||||
| May-July 2024 | Zoom | 3-5:30 pm | ||||||
| IMPRI #WebPolicyLearning | ||||||
| S.No | Name | Designation | Organisation | Occupation | Location | Research Title |
| 1 | Mohammad Hasan Ali | Advocate | Chittagong District Bar Association | Researcher | Mohora, Chandgaon, Chattogram, Bangladesh | Climate Change and Disaster Management, Bangladesh Perspective: An Empirical Study |
| 2 | ABHAY R MENON | Student | Marygiri English Medium School, Kannur | Student | Kannur | Illegal sand mining, waste disposal and impact on coastal communities |
| 3 | Deepannita Misra | Senior Research Associate | International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) | Researcher | New Delhi, India | Commons and Pastoral Livelihoods through practitioners’ lens: An exploration of key trends and challenges |
| 4 | Antariksha Chatterjee | Student | Jadavpur University | Student | Kolkata, India | Local cultural practices and ecological preservation |
| 5 | KETAN PAWAR | student | Tata Institute of Social Science | Student | Mumbai, India | Sowing in Uncertainty: The Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture in Coastal Ratnagiri |
| 6 | Ankita Luharia | Senior VP | Raah Foundation | Working professional | Mumbai, India | Role of ESG in climate change mitigation |
| 7 | Debkanta Roy | Student of MSc Development Policy Planning and Practice | Tata Institute of Social Sciences | Student | Tuljapur, India | Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) and climate change |
| 8 | Megha Mahajan | Senior Executive | INDUS Environmental Services Private Limited | Working professional | Delhi, India | Call for a Climate Justice:Lessons from global Practices and Challenges in India |
| 9 | Niraj Bhatia | Design Manager | Al-Futtaim Group | Working professional | Dubai | What does my plastic bag of chips have to do with climate Change? |
| 10 | Nishchint | Self Employed | Various architectural firms | Working professional | New Delhi, India | ESG dynamics in Ganga-Yamuna ecosystem in Prayagraj |
| 11 | Oceanika Bhatt | Sr. Associate, Projects and Outreach & Advocacy | Waste Warriors Society | Working professional | Dehradun, India | Rehabilitation Plan for the Narmada Valley Flood Victims in case of Dhar District: An Approach to Sustainable Habitation for the Oustees |
| 12 | Shraboni Dey | Fellow, Field Team for Lok Sabha Elections 2024, IPAC | Indian-PAC | Working professional | Midnapore, India | Green Energy Initiatives Steering towards an Ecological and Policy Sustainability for a Resilient Future |
| 13 | Tanisha upadhyay | No | No | Student | Badaun, India | Fast Fashion a Global Challenge |
| 14 | Darshan Jain | Student | IIT ISM Dhanbad | Student | Dhanbad, India | Climate Change and Inequality : How it affects different people in society |
| 15 | Mariya Sajan | Legal | Independent consultant | Corporate lawyer currently on a career break. | Kottayam, India | Asia’s only Below-Sea-Level-farming and its impact on the Biodiversity Loss of Region |
| 16 | Dhrushma Pandya | Anant school of climate action | Student | Ahmedabad | India | Marginalization of informal workers in the current climate policies: The need for more inclusive strategies |
| 17 | Anwesha Maharana | PhD student | KU Leuven, Belgium | Student | Leuven, Belgium | |
| 18 | Anushin Ray | B.Sc. (Hons) Environmental Science, Final year student. | The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda | Student | Howrah, India | |
| 19 | Aakanksha Sen | Student | – | Student | Hyderabad, India | |
| 20 | Akanksha Sengupta | Project Officer | Earthood Services Private limited | Faridabad | India | |
| 21 | Dhanashree Kandalgaonkar | Student | Savitribai Phule Pune University | Student | Pune, India | |
| 22 | Dr Urba Malik | Assistant Professor | Islamic University of Science and Technology | Teaching Faculty | Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India | |
Inaugural Session Video:
Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaQ2SfyP1WM
HQ: https://youtu.be/jR8xrwoc_Yw
Fellows Presentation Videos:
Fellows presentation 2: https://www.youtube.com/live/uMtSTrtqJLw
Fellows presentation 1: https://www.youtube.com/live/lx-IF1dtgIs

Specimen Certificate
Previous similar programs:
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– Making Indian Cities Disaster and Climate Change Resilient: Towards Responsive and Actionable Urban Planning, Policy and Development | May 2022
– Implementing Rainwater Conservation: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Rainwater Harvesting and Efficient Local Water Governance and Resilience | August 2022
– Understanding Recurring Heatwaves: Risk, Impact and the Way Forward for Resilience | July 2022
– Gender Equality, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Goals | May 2021
– Disaster Resilient Waste Management for Sustainable Spaces | June 2021
– Women-led Sustainable and Decentralised Water Resource Management – A Multi-Stakeholders’ Perspective | August 2021
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