Bhubaneshwar: The School of Human Settlements (SHS), XIM University, Bhubaneswar, is going to organize the Annual Research on Cities Summit (ARCS) 6.0 online from 10th February- 12th February.

From the past five years, XIM has successfully established a platform in India where all the academicians, researchers, industry professionals, and students share their experiences and work in urban development and planning. Even it received over a hundred quality abstracts worldwide. The international and national delegates will participate, discuss, debate, and deliberate over ‘Urban Green Transition: Decoding Opportunities and Challenges’ to re-imagine the urban future towards sustainability. The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), New Delhi, is our knowledge partner for the event.

The conference has multiple sub-themes on emerging urban issues like digital transformation, E-governance and circular economy, gender-sensitive cities, green mobility, environmental risk and resilience, urban health, water and sanitation, to name a few. The authors of the final shortlisted papers will present their work to distinguished panelists, followed by an interactive discussion on respective themes.

As a prequel to ARCS 6.0, a national level photo essay competition on the theme of ‘My City, Green City’ has also been organized in association with NIUA- C-Cube (Climate Centre for Cities), New Delhi. The photo essay competition was organized as a part of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, GoI’s initiative to generate awareness regarding climate change. The last date of photo entry was 5^th February 2022. The competition was open to high secondary school students and undergraduate students across all disciplines. The results of the competition will be declared at the valedictory ceremony of ARCS 6.0, 12^th February 2022.

ARCS 6.0 will be inaugurated by Prof. Dr. Fr. Antony R Uvari, S.J., Vice Chancellor, XIM University, Fr. S. Antony Raj SJ, Registrar, XIM University, Dr. Kajri Misra, Dean SHS, XIM University and Dr. Tathagata Chatterji, ARCS 6 .0 Convenor. The keynote address will be delivered by Shri. Kunal Kumar, IAS, Joint Secretary & Mission Director (Smart Cities Mission), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India.

The conference will be followed by panel discussions on 10 February 2022 on ‘Urban Green Transition: Global Agenda, Local Action’ by our distinguished international speakers- Frank D’hondt (Secretary-General, International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), Piotr Lorens (Head, Department of Urban Design and Regional Planning, Gdansk University of Technology, Poland), and Markus Appenzeller (Director MLA+, the Netherlands). The event will be moderated by Dr. Tathagata Chatterji, Professor SHS, and ARCS 6 .0 Convenor. Dr. Kajri Misra, Dean SHS, XIM University will deliver the opening remarks.

There would be another panel discussion on  11 February 2022 on ‘Climate Actions in Cities’ by Dr. Umamaheshwaran Rajasekar (Head, C-Cube and Chair, Urban Resilience Unit, NIUA, Delhi); Sebastien Guxi, (Director, Citilinks); Dr. Kajri Misra (Dean, School of Human Settlements, XIM University) The event will be moderated by Dr. Tathagata Chatterji, Professor SHS and ARCS 6 .0 Convenor. Dr. Kajri Misra, Dean SHS, XIM University will deliver the opening remarks.

Shri Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs will deliver the valedictory address on 12 February 2022.

The School of Human Settlements and the entire fraternity of XIM University believe that our cities are on the brink of climate change. Focusing on sustainable choices is the only way out at this critical junction. Thus, ARCS 6.0 aims to bring together the greatest minds worldwide to show a way forward towards a sustainable urban space through the green transitions.