Science, Technology and Innovation for A Clean, Green and Healthy Nation.
Science, Technology and Innovation for
A Clean, Green and Healthy Nation
Clean, green and healthy are some common words of discussions in the context of planning
and development since days of the evolution of the concept of welfare economics. It was
started with measuring utility in terms of monetary value of social welfare, where life
expectancy, per capita income, literacy, employment rate, etc. are considered as indicators,
instead of only Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to measure growth . The progression of idea
led to the concept of Human Development Index (HDI), with broad consideration of long
and healthy life, knowledge and standard of living, taking into account Gender Development
Index (GDI) considering variation of situation in the context of man and woman.
However, all these approaches are more or less anthropocentric in nature where status of
ecosystems was not in prime consideration in assessing human progression. Brundtland
Commission’s Report on sustainability brings new light to the concept of sustainable
development by interlinking ecology, economy and society and providing the core functionality
of Sustainable development .
Here, ecosystem or ecological sustainability deals with eco-system integrity, carrying capacity,
protecting and managing biodiversity. Economic sustainability focuses on growth,
development, productivity and benefits at grassroots; whereas, social sustainability focuses
on equity, empowerment, accessibility, participation, sharing, cultural identity and institutional
stability. In the contemporary period after reviewing through the challenges of development,
Millennium Development Goals (MDG) were conceptualized in 2000. The MDG focussed
on eradicating poverty and hunger, attaining universal primary education, gender equality
and empowerment, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, and ensure environmental
sustainability through its respective goals.
Later on, after reviewing the progress of MDG in July 2014, the UN General Assembly’s
Open Working Group (OWG) proposed a new set of agenda with 17 goals to be put forward
for the General Assembly’s approval in September 2015. That document set the ground for
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the global development agenda spanning from
2015-2030. In SDG, cleanliness, environmentally sound sanitation and health focused with
emphasis including No poverty, Zero hunger, Good health and Wellbeing, Clean water and
Sanitation, Responsible consumption and production, Climate action, Life below water, Life
on land through its goals -1,2,6, 12,13, 14 and 15 along with other focuses. It is noteworthy
that in the spirit of SDG, India also launched its own mission of Clean India ( Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan) in 2014. In this perspective leveraging through application of science, appropriate
technological facilitation and capacity building are the means for implementation of goals of
SDG and other national missions.
Therefore the focal theme for National Children’s Science Congress – 2018 and 2019 has
been decided as “Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for a Clean, Green and
Healthy Nation”. The focal theme has been designed considering the following operational
definition and desired dimension
In fact, natural resources in general, and water in particular, along with sanitation and health
are integral parts of ecosystem, economy and society. Sustainability of an ecosystem,
economy and society depends on sustainable natural resource management, water and
sanitation related practices and their management; which regulate the status of health and
environmental security. Ecological base of a region with its abiotic and biotic attributes
determine the state of availability of natural resources and ecological services. Overuse of
natural resources and associated practices are responsible for degradation of ecological
security. When the amount of exploitation of natural resources exceeds its carrying capacity,
it gives rise to ecosystem disturbances with implications on ecosystem’s health. On the
other hand, practices of sanitation are a major responsible factor not only for degradation of
water quality but also for degradation of environmental services from an ecosystem