Goal 8 of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasizes promotion of sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth along with full & productive employment and decent work for all. Consequently, the members States are taking necessary action in achievement of this goal. One of the targets under Goal 8 of SDG, postulates decoupling of economic growth from environmental degradation through resource efficiency in production and consumption. Environmental concerns globally and in India have led to all major sectors contributing to a country’s economy like energy, agriculture, infrastructure, etc., undergo a major shift. The change in perspective to achieving growth sustainability will require aligning our education and skills ecosystem with alternative and sustainable ways of growing our economy will be a key enabler in achieving goals and propelling green growth.

Constant upskilling and reskilling of existing workforce would be required to keep them apace with newer technologies. With an increasing global focus on sustainability, there is a growing demand for professionals with knowledge and skills in sustainability. Aligning the education curriculum with sustainable principles can better prepare students for job opportunities in sectors like renewable energy, green technologies, sustainable agriculture, and environmental consulting. Further, Industry-Academia collaboration in terms of research projects, internships, mentorship, Professor of Practice can further help students to stay abreast of the developments in the sector and skills requirements while also giving them opportunities to gain hands-on experience. NEP 2020 emphasizes multidisciplinary and holistic education, which provides an opportunity for HEIs to integrate sustainability across various subjects and thereby contribute to India’s sustainable development goals.

Government has taken various initiatives to equip students with knowledge and to upskill them, while earning credits, on topics related to sustainability. For example, SWAYAM has launched various such courses like Environmental Sustainability which has 1600+ students enrolled and allows students to earn 4 credits in 9 weeks. Similarly, another certificate course on Sustainable development has been enrolled by 4800+ students. These high enrolment numbers indicate growing interest among students in topics related to sustainability. Translating vision in to action, Mission LiFE (Lifestyle For Environment) has been conceptualized as a mass movement to promote sustainable practices in all spheres of human life involving communities to channelize their coordinated efforts towards bringing positive behavioral changes promoting sustainable living style. HEIs across the country organized various activities under the banner of Mission LiFE to instill similar feeling in the students and act accordingly to adopt a healthy and sustainable lifestyle and disseminate this wisdom to other people in their surroundings.

Further, to identify training capacity requirements and accordingly take efforts towards enhancement of facilities for skill development, MoE has also formed Task Forces to prepare roadmap for Talent Requirements on Future of work across various sectors. The Task Forces, comprising of individuals from government, industry and academia, will be responsible for identifying Curriculum gaps keeping in mind the Future of work requirements and accordingly propose an innovative curriculum in the Sector. Given these Task Forces are working in the context of Industry 4.0 and 5.0, one of the core areas of their focus is sustainability.

With reference to assessment of ‘Future of Work’ job requirements in the wake of fast-paced changes in the society, MoE identified 8 Sector-Specific Groups (SSGs) based on their relevance to the changing world such as Agriculture, Health & Bio-electronics, Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI), Energy, Logistics, Digital & Creative Economy, AI in Engineering and Manufacturing & Industry 4.0. HEIs like IITs, IIM & IISc will work to identify the emerging needs of the respective sectors and to facilitate corresponding upgrades in academic and the corresponding capacity building programs. Appropriate actions are being taken by MoE in this regard.

MoE through IIT Delhi also undertook a study to assess manpower and skills requirement emerging from energy transition. The study estimated workforce demand, requisite skills, competencies, job roles, assessed supply side ecosystem and identified gaps to meet future skills demand across various sub-sectors within renewable energy. The study also highlighted courses in alignment with future skills and competencies required.

HEIs are also taking initiatives in their own capacity owing to the importance of sustainability in education, job prospects and industry-academia collaboration. For example, IIT Madras inaugurated School of Sustainability in 2023. The school offers various sustainability-centric courses, collaborates with Industry and drives interdisciplinary research. IIT Kanpur’s Kotak School of Sustainability runs UG and PG programmes on skill building in different areas of sustainability.

Moreover, international rankings such as QS have also started including indicators such as Environmental Education which assesses how institutions are educating students to both understand and make a difference specifically to the environment, outlining the global focus on sustainability.

Going forward, India aims to increase the percentage of total environmental and technological patents to 10% by 2047. In parallel, India will also focus on environmental frontier critical to attain high power clean energy, reduced emissions and increased battery efficiency, underscoring the need for developing skills related to these frontiers to enhance employability of students.

The session shall facilitate discussion of all stakeholders on topics which will help in addressing the current challenges and actualizing future goals.

Topics to be brainstormed

• Mechanisms to help HEIs embed topics related to sustainability in their existing courses and launch new courses related to sustainability.
• Need to launch model curriculum for upcoming topics related to sustainability across sectors by stakeholders.
• Need for regular Guest Lectures, Workshops, Conferences to keep students abreast of latest developments and skill sets requirements, especially related to sustainability, across various sectors.
• Discussion on developing industry partnerships and onboarding of industry players for providing internship/Apprenticeship opportunities focusing on topics related to sustainability.
• Discussion on pathways to increase Industry-Academia collaboration on topics of sustainability and on-boarding industry players.

Expected Outcomes

• Enhanced sustainability relevant offering in offline and online courses for students.
• Enhanced industry- institute connect in areas of sustainability and ESG.
• Enhanced internships/apprenticeships opportunities focusing on topics related to sustainability to gain hands-on experience.
• Leveraging Industry-Academia R&D collaboration on topics related to sustainability.

Roadmap for the Institutes

• Conduct student-induction programmes to create awareness among students about importance of sustainability and acquiring relevant skill sets to enhance potential employment opportunities.
• Design incentives to onboard more students who are interested in research areas catering to sustainability as well as nudge current students/fellows to use sustainability lens in their existing research areas.
• Leverage existing Industry-Academia collaborations to develop collaboration on topics related to sustainability.