World Soil Day, 2023 Awareness-cum-Capacity Building Programme

Organized by Assam Climate Change Management Society, Guwahati

In collaboration with School of Social Sciences, The Assam Kaziranga University, Jorhat, Assam

Date: 5^th December, 2023 (Tuesday)

Venue: SET Seminar Hall, The Assam Kaziranga University, Jorhat

The School of Social Science (SSS) in collaboration with The Assam Climate Change Management Society (ACCMS), Government of Assam organized an awareness cum capacity-building program to initiate discussions and come up with actionable on climate change on the occasion of World Soil Day 2023. The programme consisted of four major events; those are-

1. Inaugural Session.
2. Lecture series.
3. Panel discussion.
4. Plantation drive.

The Inaugural Session:

The Inaugural event was graced by Shri Nanda Kumar, IFS, DFO, Jorhat, who was also the Special Invitee to the programme. Shri Rizwan Uz Zaman, Technical Consultant, ACCMS, Shri Arindam Goswami, Research Associate, ACCMS, Dr Jiten Malakar, Former Addl. Director & OSD, Soil Conservation Department, Government of Assam and Dr H. Ravi Shankar Kamath, Registrar, The Assam Kaziranga University, were the prominents among the guests in the inaugural programme.  About 100 participants from Assam Kaziranga University; JB College, Jorhat as well as some independent environment-conscious alumni of KU have participated in the programme.

The welcome and felicitation programme was led by Dr Saurabhi Sarmah, Associate Professor at, School of Social Science. In the address she introduced the concept of climate crisis and its grave impacts in the coming years. The opening remarks were made by Rizwan Ur Zaman who proceeded to highlight the efforts taken by government agencies towards climate mitigation, adaptation and building resilience. Dr Ravi Shankar Kamath added remarks on this occasion connecting the day to its history of initiation by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in 2013. Shri Nanda Kumar, IFS, delivered his thoughts on the topic and shared insights on the significance of World Soil Day. He mentioned the importance of soil and water for nature, human beings and the environment for its co-existence. Dr. Golak B Patra, Associate Professor, at the School of Social Sciences, proposed the vote of thanks to the guests for the Inaugural Session.

The lecture series:

The lecture series started with a lecture by Shri Arindam Goswami, ACCMS, who went through the basics of climate change like greenhouse gas emissions, global heating, extreme climatic events and their impacts on health, social stability, food security etc. The speaker mentioned our country’s response in the form of programmes like India’s cooling action plan which also has been initiated at the State level.

Dr Jiten Malakar was the next speaker, who delivered lectures on ‘Soil: The foundation of life in a changing climate’ and ‘Water Conservation in Climate Action’. He focused on the ways to improve soil fertility and stability through measures like green manuring, contour farming, strip cropping and reducing the usage of fertilizers and water-intensive crops. He has highlighted on using non-intrusive methods of farming where natural resources remain unhampered.

The panel discussion:

The panel discussion was the third element of the event. The theme of the panel discussion was “Soil and Water Conservation Towards Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation”. This event consisted of five panellists, Dr Danish Tamuly, Assistant Professor, and Director, Foundation of AIC-AAU Incubator, NEATEHUB, Assam Agriculture University, Jorhat; Shri Debabrata Rajkumar, Founder and Director, Nature’s Orbit Collective Foundation, Assam; Shri Sadiqur Rahman, Assistant Professor, Dept of Geography, JB College, Jorhat; Dr Nabajyoti Saikia, Dean School of Basic Science & Dean Research, The Assam Kaziranga University; and Dr Rakesh Rai, Dean School of Social Science, The Assam Kaziranga University. It was moderated by Shri Rizwan Uz Zaman Hussain, Technical Consultant, ACCMS, Guwahati. The discussion steered towards convergence and developing an action plan which included points like including the community and youth in developing solutions in a democratic way, better waste management policy and changing the educational syllabuses and terminologies to raise awareness amongst the student community on climate action.

The Plantation Drive:

The plantation drive was one of the symbolic events towards the climate change action on the occasion of World Soil Day 2023. With the kind cooperation of Shri Nanda Kumar, IFS, DFO-Jorhat, the local Forest Range Officer, provided 50 fruit-bearing saplings for the plantation drive on the campus. Plantation drive was done on the campus with the guests, and participants as part of climate change action.

The programme was concluded with a vote of thanks proposed by Dr. Ramjit Kumar, Assistant Professor, SSS, KU. This programme was possible because of the sponsorship of the ACCMS, Govt. of Assam and the kind initiative of the Assam Kaziranga University. It was a reflective of the collaborative efforts required at the Global, National and local levels to move towards climate action in particular and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in general. The outcome of the programme will apprise the public policies, and public consciousness and shift towards the closer to achieving SDGs.