Unesco backs Terre-India's Smart Campus Global Project

Paris/Pune  : Unesco has announced its full support to India-based Terre Policy Centre's Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN) in its 2018 Programme.

Unesco's Knowledge Societies Programme will now work closely with SCCN to empower and enable the youth in the universities and colleges for 21st century leadership to realise the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Expressing his delight on the partnership, Dr. Boyan Radoykov, Acting Director of Communication and Information of Knowledge Societies Division stated: "The time has come for re-examining intrinsic linkages between the digital innovations, technology penetration and increasing societal inclination for a digitized world. Undoubtedly, Terre Policy Centre's efforts to link educational campuses using cloud networking would provide a meaningful way forward in this direction."

The Knowledge Societies Division strives to enhance the quality of and access to education by promoting open access to technological and scientific information and empower local communities, including youth in educational campuses. Sharing the same vision, Terre and Unesco have collaborated to drive youth engagement to contribute to SDGs by deploying SCCN and Knowledge Societies initiatives using latest Information and Communication Technologies including the Internet of Things, Cloud Networking, Artifical Intelligence and Data Analytics. 

"Unesco hopes that its collaboration with Terre would pave the way for sowing the seeds to transform campus communities through better access to information and understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals," Radoykov added.

"Unesco's association with SCCN is not only a major milestone, it is a huge boost to the very foundation and objective of SCCN," said Rajendra Shende, Chairman of the Terre Policy Centre and former Director of UNEP. 

"Getting recognition from UNESCO for SCCN would add speed and scale for students' efforts towards sustainability," Shende added. 

SCCN has so far onboard 23 universities on its platform with the commencement of Cloud Network and digital sharing of information. The University Grants Commission (UGC) of the Ministry of Human Resource Development has also extended support to this initiative. 

The Terre Policy Centre is a not-for-profit organisation and think-tank engaged in energy and food security. It is known for out-of-the-box thinking and innovative projects like urban forestry and social entrepreneurship for sustainable development.