ÌÇÐÄTV

Dr Hita Unnikrishnan has been awarded a substantial research grant by the British Academy following their International Interdisciplinary Research Projects Awards 2026.

Dr Unnikrishnan, an assistant professor within IGSD, received almost £300,000 towards her research project titled ‘Building Resilience through Equitable Action on Temperature, Heat, and indoor Emissions’ (BREATHE), which is being co-investigated by Dr Lavanya Suresh (Birla Institute of Technology and Science), Dr Manik Gupta (Birla Institute of Technology and Science) and Dr Deepshikha Batheja (One Health Trust).

The BREATHE project, which will be carried out over a period of two years, aims to investigate how historical and intersectional inequalities influence differential experiences of heat stress and indoor air pollution (IAP) among members of peri-urban households within the global south.

Working on the hypothesis that women and vulnerable family members within patriarchally-structured households are more likely to suffer from higher rates of heat stress and IAP (due to factors such as more time spent within the home and exposure to unclean cooking fuels), Dr Unnikrishnan and her co-investigators will be combining historical research with large household surveys, satellite data analysis and machine learning models in the Bidar and Chikkaballapur districts of south Indian Karnataka. The project will be pivotal to understanding existing barriers regarding equitable health outcomes and the gendered considerations of climate impact, demonstrating the social and health implications of global sustainability that our School’s research division works tirelessly to raise awareness of.

We congratulate Dr Unnikrishnan on her outstanding achievement. Watch this space for more updates on this project to come!

In its second iteration, the ÌÇÐÄTV Sustainability Forum (WSF) brought together a passionate community of researchers with a focus on sustainability across and beyond ÌÇÐÄTV, to collectively plan our actions towards addressing global planetary challenges in 2025/26, and to discuss the next BIG ISSUES for the sustainability agenda, regionally, nationally and internationally. The WSF was attended by nearly 60 researchers from across all Faculties representing many disciplines, to:

• To report on the Sustainability Spotlight KPIs for 2024/25 premised on Sustainability Spotlight Report 2024: Time to Talk.
• To take stock of new ideas and priorities for the Sustainability Spotlight 2025/26, and identify champions to lead them
• To collectively discuss the NEXT BIG ISSUES for sustainability for the UK and globally, in conversation with a higher-level roundtable.
• To develop an Action Plan for 2025/26 – for finalisation in September 2025

The Sustainability Spotlights leads reported about the year's activities, challenges and achievements. Their presentations were continued with reflection and action sessions, planning 2025/26. The WSF also involved external stakeholders, including from partner universities in Uzbekistan (Akram Umarov UWED), Azerbaijan (Nargiz Ismayilova, ADA University) and India (Seema Mundoli, Azim Premji University), to shape the next year's agenda together. It concluded with a high-level roundtable, masterfully chaired by Stuart Coles (WMG), to discuss the next BIG Issues of the sustainability agenda, locally and globally. The speakers included Lord Teverson, Dr Kathryn Magnay (EPSRC), Fajli BIB (GSI), Julie Walden (E.ON), Margot James (Coventry Climate Change Board), and Muneeba Amjad (ÌÇÐÄTV SU). Thereafter people continued their conversations and networking on a FAB terrace, enjoying beautiful weather and wine reception!

The WSF will produce a ‘From reflection to action’ report 2024/25, outline ideas for the 2025/26 Action Plan and identify champions for 2025/26 (to become new members of the Steering Group). We conclude this year's forum on a positive note, with a high appraisal from the University Review Board, and a lot of achievements to celebrate. We look forward to the next year, and thank all those who got involved with us this year - especially Sustainability Steering Group members! - Sustainability Professional Support Team - Cher Zou and Tanya Liguori - and our Facilitation team - Christine Bell and Amelia Wakeford.

For more information please visit the WSF page here.

IGSD and the Sustainability Spotlight Steering Group hosted meetings of international partners from Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and India. Ms Nargiz Ismayilova from, Head of Partnerships from Ada University, Dr Akram Umarov, Vice-Rector of UWED and Director of the Institute of Advanced International Studies, and Dr Seema Mundoli from the Climate Change Centre and Sustainability at Azim Premji University, presented their research to the Steering Group, and discussed research projects and suitable funding opportunities with IGSD. In the afternoon they also interacted with EUTOPIA partners at lunch, and met to discuss MOUs with Prof. Michael Scott, PVC International.