Category Archives: Homepage News

Morgenstadt Global Smart Cities Initiative (MGI) – Sustainable Neighbourhood project

SITE VISIT AND STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP

As part of the ongoing Morgenstadt Global Smart Cities Initiative (MGI) – Sustainable Neighbourhood project, the project team from Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO), Stuttgart, University of Stuttgart, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) visited Kochi. The team along with the c-hed visited the project area at Elamakkara North division (Division 33), Puthukkalavattam division (Division 34) and the Government Higher Secondary School, Elamakkara to evaluate the interventions identified for implementation in this area.

Following this, a stakeholder consultation workshop was held. Stakeholders from various departments like Kerala Water Authority, Kerala State Electricity Board, ANERT, division councillor, Kochi Municipal Corporation officials, representatives from Government Higher Secondary School, Elamakkara and residence associations attended the workshop. The technical team from Fraunhofer Institute presented the project ideas. The session ended with a group exercise where the stakeholders shared their views and opinions on different interventions proposed.

SITE VISIT TO PHOTOVOLTAIC DEMO INSTALLATION AREA

The Fraunhofer expert along with the c-hed visited the PV demo project area at Elamakkara North division (Division 33).

STAKEHOLDER MEETING ON DEMO INSTALLATION

A stakeholder meeting with Kerala State Electricity Board and ANERT was held to discuss on the feasibility of PV demo installations proposed in the project area.

Subhash Bose Park Reopening

The prestigious Subhash Bose Park is maintained by Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development. The park is a fine example of our efforts . It serves as the green lungs of the core city and a space for recreation . It is now alive and vibrant with music concerts , performing arts and other cultural activities. With the support of ICLEI South Asia, we have also setup a Medicinal plant garden and Butterfly garden. We were proud to have Padma Shri Bharat Mammootty reopen the park in the presence of Hon’ble Mayor Adv. M. Anil Kumar.

We welcome the residents and visitors to the park !

 

 

Green Corridor Project (N-S Corridor)

Mobilise Your City (MYC) project, an initiative of the Union Government to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions related to urban transport. Kochi is one of the cities selected for the MYC project. Urban Mass Transport Company (UMTC) has been entrusted with the task of implementing the project in Kochi. 

Under the MYC programme, the Corporation is planning to construct a 2.5-km-long corridor between North and South railway stations in Ernakulam and thereby decongest MG Road and Chittoor Road. As part of the green corridor project (North – South corridor), a detailed analysis of the stretch was done and the result of the same was presented before the Hon’ble Mayor by the consultants. The meeting was attended by Sri. P.M Harris, Works Committee Chairman, Councillors, Mr.Nithin Norbert, Railway Division Manager, Mr. Dennis Jose, UMTC and the representatives from c-hed.

C-HED at 10th World Urban Forum

Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development (C-HED) director Dr. Rajan Chedambath presented our organisations case at the 10th World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, UAE. This competition is designed to share and exchange valuable knowledge and experiences between cities all around the world, with C-HED representing Kochi this year. Joining Dr. Rajan on stage and supporting our case was Mayor Soumini Jain of the Kochi Municipality Corporation as well as Ms. Friederike Thonke and Mr. Rienhard Skinner of GIZ, Mr. Octavi de la Varga secretary general at Metropolis, Mr. Hitesh Vaidya director at the National Institute of Urban Affairs and Dr. Monolisa Sen programme coordinator at ICLEI-South Asia. Titled “Institutional Innovations Linking Heritage and Culture: Empowering Urban Local Governments in the Global South”, we made a strong case of how C-HED has been instrumental in transforming urban development in Kochi through local, national and international stakeholder cooperation. We would like to thank all those who have been a part of this experience and we hope we can continue building a sustainable future for Kochi.

Water Conservation Workshop

The Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development (c-hed) and Ashoka Trust for Reserarch in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), organised a 1 day workshop where we discussed and deliberated on measures for water conservation including developing awareness and strategies to help fight climate change. The event was supported by the Kochi Municipal Corporation and Department of environment and climate change,Government of Kerala.

The workshop was preceded by a technical session by ATREE project coordinator Jojo T.D and district rainwater harvesting project secretary Jose.C.Raphel. The technical session explained the practical steps that can be adopted to save water. The programme was aimed at making people aware of different measures to conserve water. An innovative method for water conservation by using wall-mount urinals in houses was also introduced to Kochi residents. These water conservation methods will minimize the water usage and will reduce the water scarcity issue in the city.

Mapathon – Cities4forests

The Kochi Municipal Corporation in association with the World Resources Institute India organized a ‘Mapathon’ in coordination with the Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development, as part of the Cities4Forests project from 9 to 11 January, 2020 at St. Teresa’s College, Kochi to develop monitoring mechanism in Kochi and enhance community participation in restoration.

Kochi is the only city in the country to have been selected for the project last year. In the first phase of the project, councillors from the Corporation’s 74 divisions along with local experts participated in the mapathon which identified the current land use in the divisions using satellite images. The purpose of the mapathon is to establish baseline and assess the trends in tree cover and identify potential areas for restoration in the city. Buildings, green patches, open spaces, waterbodies and roads were also mapped by WRI in consultation with the councillors after which they identified the areas in their divisions where trees can be planted. The three-day exercise will result in a map that can suggest spaces in the city that are conducive to the growth of green patches.

In the second phase of the project, the Corporation will determine the implementation of the project and which trees are to be planted.