A conference on climate resilience and environmentally sustainable technologies has stressed the need for interdisciplinary and institutional collaborations to tackle challenges related to climate change.

Presiding over the conference on ‘Climate resilience and environmentally sustainable technologies (NITK-CREST 2025)’, organised by the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) at Surathkal in Mangaluru taluk, B Ravi, Director of the institute, highlighted the interconnectedness of disciplines.

Stating that the health of people (medical science), plants (agricultural science), and the planet (environmental science) are interlinked, he said no single person, department, or institute can solve these challenges alone. Interdisciplinary, institutional, and even international collaboration is the path forward, he said.

Stressing the need for knowledge integration across disciplines and industry verticals, he said NITK’s action plan includes a smart, sustainable, healthy, clean, safe, and prosperous campus. “We are advancing water and energy projects, and will now include soil initiatives,” he said.

interdisciplinary collaboration

Emphasising the urgency of interdisciplinary collaboration for climate resilience, K Balachandra Hebbar, Director of ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, said digitisation is critical in today’s context. Though simulation models, remote sensing, IoT, and AI are essential tools, data availability remains a major challenge, especially from the plant side. Stating that there is lack of requisite equipment to measure this data, he said while biologists conduct research from their perspective, quality data requires collaboration with engineers from institutions like NITK and IITs.

“We’re seeing such partnerships grow, but it takes time. Without collective effort, progress is difficult. I’m pleased we already collaborate with NITK and look forward to deepening these ties,” he said.