Feb 01:The University of Toronto India Foundation (UTIF) in collaboration with IIT Madras' School of Sustainability and University of Toronto's School of Cities today inaugurated the Cities of Care Conference at the IIT Madras Research Park, bringing together leading global universities, research institutions, policymakers and practitioners to advance climate action and rethink sustainable urban development for Indian cities.
Cities of Care convened 90+ global researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and funders to explore climate action through a Water–Food–Waste systems lens. It featured plenaries, three thematic research sessions, 15 research presentations, and a cross-sector panel connecting global and Indian voices on urban complexity across water, food, and waste systems.
The two-day conference is centred on the water, food and waste systems, both individually and as an interconnected nexus, a critical yet often fragmented area of urban planning. It thereby highlights how the interlinked nature of critical urban systems must be addressed through integrated and long-term policy approaches. Through research presentations, expert panels and practitioner dialogues, Cities of Care aims to translate academic research into actionable insights for cities grappling with climate stress, resource scarcity and rapid urbanisation.
As part of the conference, UTIF, in collaboration with sustainability-focused media platform REVOLVE, released the Sustainable India 2025 country report, a comprehensive overview of India’s sustainability and climate action developments from across cities, states and sectors.
Prof. Indumathi M Nambi, Professor in Civil Engineering Department & School of Sustainability, IIT Madras said-
The lab-to-market journey is long and challenging. We need platforms like this educating researchers to work on real-world problems, enabling governments to create supportive policies and programs, and bringing businesses and academia together to identify challenges and fund applied research and technology development. It is equally important to educate investors to value impact metrics alongside financial returns.
The conference comes at a time when Indian cities are facing increasing pressures from climate risks, resource constraints and rapid urbanisation. According to the Towards Resilient and Prosperous Cities in India report, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, India’s urban population is projected to nearly double to 951 million by 2050, necessitating the construction of over 144 million new homes by 2070. By approaching water, food and waste as interconnected systems, Cities of Care seeks to encourage integrated planning approaches and long-term strategies for urban resilience.