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UCL Humanitarian Institute Evening Conference Series on the UN Sustainable Development Goals

2 October 2017

Sustainable Development in the Himalaya Friday 20th October 2017 18:00 to 21:00 An evening conference on sustainable development in the Himalaya.

HI Conference Themes include:

Geotourism, energy challenges for sustainable development, natural hazards and their drivers, and children's education programmes.

University of Jammu and University College London - History and Outcomes of Collaboration

The history of collaboration between University of Jammu (UoJ) and University College London (UCL) dates back to the year 2006. The academia-industry interface was developed involving MPRG-UCL, Eni and Getenergy Ltd. London, and as a result Institute of Energy Research and Training (IERT) was established. This collaboration blossomed into an academia-industry consortium involving India, UK, Italy, USA, Ghana, Mozambique and Argentina. This consortium offers to educate and inspire new generation of future scientists who will need to meet the energy and environmental challenges in a sustainable manner. The ultimate aim is to create a global network of institutions and industries (on energy, environment, hazards and resilience) who will share resources and best practices as well as the data that they record.

Speaker: Prof Ghulam M. Bhat 

Geotourism

More details to follow

Speaker: Prof Jurgen Thurow, UCL Earth Sciences 

Meeting the Energy Challenges for Sustainable Development in the Himalaya

Sustainable development requires energy - but the Himalaya region is desperately short of suitable energy resources. Although the use of renewable energy resources such as hydroelectric, wind and solar is increasing in the region, the sustainable development of each has its challenges and, as a consequence many areas in the High Himalaya continue to rely on fossil fuels and, particularly in the winter, on the use of extremely polluting diesel generators. This lecture will review the options for meeting the energy demands of the Himalaya in a sustainable way and will focus on two currently untapped resources: the potential to develop community-scale biogenic gas projects in the Kashmir Valley in India and the Peshawar Basin in Pakistan, and the possibility of utilising geothermal potential in Ladakh. 

Speaker: Jonathan Craig

Natural Hazards and their Drivers in the Shyok-Nubra Valley, Ladakh Himalaya

In Himalaya, continuous tectonics and geological processes, coupled with anthropogenic activities and climate change have given rise to and exacerbated numerous hazards viz. earthquakes, down-slope movements (landslides), fan-hazards, floods, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), cloudburst, snow-avalanches and drought. This presentation discusses different hazards and their drivers in the Shyok-Nubra Valley, where habitation pressure has intensified, creating an urgency to provide guidance to communities on how to accommodate safe growth and development while protecting life and property.

Speaker: Dr Naveen Hakhoo 

Humanitarian History in the Himalaya: Reflections on Ladakh

On 6 August 2010, a cloud burst and heavy rains in Ladakh caused fatal flooding in Leh and many nearby villages. It was a once in a generation disaster and resulted in one of the biggest humanitarian responses seen in the region. However, it was neither the first major hazard to hit the area, nor the first humanitarian response. In this video presentation I will explore the history of hazards and humanitarianism in Ladakh from the 19th century to the presence, framing the significance of the lack of historical record and the implications of the top-down, militarisation of relief since independence.

Speaker: Dr Jessica Field 

Children's Education Programme: An Overview.

The "Children's Education Programme" offers to educate and inspire new generation of future scientists who will be the leaders in meeting the challenges of "Climate Change, Global Warming and Natural Hazards". This programme - mainly aimed at the 14-16 age group students - the young minds and future of the nations - is an ideal vehicle to bring this message to the children all over the world. This lecture will present the history and evolution of the 'Children's Education Programme' and also discuss several interactive activities in which students are involved.

Speaker: Mateen Hafiz 

Register via Eventbrite

Presenters

The event will feature presentations by researchers from the University of Jammu, UCL, Jindal Global University and ENI Upstream & Technical Services. 

Dr Ghulam M Bhat

Dr. Ghulam M. Bhat is Professor of Geology at the University of Jammu.  He teaches and conducts research in sedimentology, engineering and structural geology, and seismology. Presently he is Rector, Bhadarwah Campus, Director IERT and Wadia Museum of Natural History, University of Jammu, India.

Prof Juergen Thurow

Professor of Palaeoceanography and Sedimentology at UCL Earth Sciences

Dr Jonathan Craig

Senior Vice President, Exploration Strategies & Professional Areas

Eni Upstream & Technical Services, Milan, Italy

Jonathan obtained a First Class Joint Honours B.Sc. degree in Geology & Geography at Nottingham University in 1979 and a Ph.D. in Structural Geology at University College, University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1985. He joined the oil & gas industry in 1980 and has worked as a structural geologist for Geomorphological Services Ltd, an exploration geoscientist for Shell, an Exploration Manager and then the Chief Geologist for LASMO plc. Since 2001, he has successively held the positions of Head of Technical Projects, Head of Prospect Validation, Head of Geology and Head of Strategic Exploration Projects for the Eni Exploration & Production Division in London and Milan. During his long career he has worked on a wide variety of international exploration and development projects, including overseas assignments in Australia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Pakistan, Colombia, Venezuela, Libya and Italy.

Jonathan is a past Chair of the Petroleum Group of the Geological Society (2011-2013) and is the current President (2015-2017) of the European Region of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). He is a member of the Editorial Boards of 'Marine & Petroleum Geology' and 'Petroleum Geoscience'. He serves on the Advisory Boards of CASP University of Cambridge, CeREES University of Durham, the Energy & Geoscience Institute (EGI) University of Utah, Royal Holloway University of London, the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge and the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG). He is a member of The House of Delegates and the Corporate Advisory Board of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and is an AAPG Visiting Geoscientist. He is also the Chair of the Maghreb Petroleum Research Group at University College London, Co-Director of the Institute of Energy Research & Training (IERT) at the University of Jammu in India and Chair of the Getenergy Global Advisory Board. He holds Honorary Professorships at University College London, Royal Holloway University of London, University of Durham and the Universities of Jammu and of Kashmir in India.  He has written many papers and books on topics ranging from Exploration Geoscience to Himalayan Steam Railways

Jonathan is currently the Senior Vice President, Exploration Strategies & Professional Areas for the Eni S.p.A. Upstream & Technical Services, based in the Eni Head Office in Milan, where he has responsibility for global exploration strategy, exploration excellence, external relations and the Eni geoscience staff. He is a Chartered Geologist and, in 2017, was awarded the Geological Society, Petroleum Group medal 'in recognition of his outstanding contribution to petroleum geoscience and the petroleum industry'.

Dr Naveen Hakhoo

Naveen Hakhoo is a Ph. D. in geology, with expertise in structure, tectonics, and rock deformation. Dr. Hakhoo is working as Assistant Professor (ad-hoc) in the Department of Geology, and Research Fellow in the Institute of Energy Research and Training (IERT), University of Jammu (UoJ), India. Dr. Hakhoo is also a Researcher Investigator in a project (on natural hazards and resilience) jointly run by UCL and UoJ.

Dr Jessica Field

Assistant Professor, O.P. Jindal Global University

Research Associate, IRDR, UCL

Honorary Research Fellow, HCRI, University of Manchester

Jessica Field undertakes policy-relevant academic research and teaching on humanitarian history, aid effectiveness and refugee protection. She is currently Principal Investigator on a 9 month IIED-funded project examining refugee self-reliance in New Delhi. Jessica is also a Research Associate on the UCL HKH project examining disaster resilience in the border conflict zone of the HKH region.

Jessica has previously worked for the International Division of Scottish Government in the development of their India Plan and International Development grant management, and has also consulted for the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai for their Aapti programme, which rehabilitated survivors following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

Mateen Hafiz

Mateen is a petroleum geochemist and geologist with the research expertise in unconventional source rock and reservoir characterization. He is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology, Govt. Maulana Azad Memorial (MAM) College Jammu and Research Fellow in the Institute of Energy Research and Training (IERT), University of Jammu (India).

Mateen has contributed to the "Children's Education Programme" on "Energy, Environment, Climate Awareness and Natural Hazards" in India, Ghana (West Africa) and Argentina (South America) and has been an active member of this global outreach activity since 2010.

Reception

The conference will be followed by a networking reception.

Location

Roberts Lecture Theatre G08 access via Malet Place | Roberts Engineering Building
Gower St | London | WC1E 6BT

www.ucl.ac.uk/maps/downloads/

Open to: Public | Students | Academics | Alumni | Development practitioners, policymakers, researchers are welcome.

Admission: FREE but you must register through Eventbrite 

Convenor: Katerina Stavrianaki, UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction k.stavrianaki@ucl.ac.uk

Supported by the UCL Humanitarian Institute and the Global Engagement Fund

Humanitarian Institute Evening Conference Series

UCL Humanitarian Institute Evening Conference Series on the UN Sustainable Development Goal Series is a new initiative showcasing collaborative research between the UK and developing countries.

If you wish to produce a Humanitarian Institute Evening Conference contact Dr Rosanna Smith, rosanna.smith@ucl.ac.uk.

Programme

18:00 Registration
18:15 University of Jammu and University College London - History and Outcomes of Collaboration - GM Bhat
18:30 Geotourism - J. Thurow 
18:50 Meeting the Energy Challenges for Sustainable Development in the Himalaya - J. Craig
19:10 Natural Hazards and their Drivers in the Shyok-Nubra Valley, Ladakh Himalaya - N. Hakhoo
19:30 Humanitarian History in the Himalaya: Reflections on Ladakh - J. Field 
19:45 Children's Education Programme: An Overview. - M. Hafiz
20:00 Closing Remarks - P. Sammonds 
20:00-21:00 Reception with Poster Presentations