'Ensure sustainable development'

Sustainable development is the true development, speakers at a seminar here felt.

The city-based B K School of Business Management, in association with Gujarat Environment Management Institute, Vadodara, organised the day-long seminar, 'Environment management and industry: Policies and practices', in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

Margie Parikh, convener of the workshop, said, "Success with more effective environment management needs multiple perspectives and insights from various fields to come together."

Speakers at the workshop felt the value of anything is the value of the future gains that it promises and so the true value of any development has to be a function of its sustainability.

Development draws its inputs from the environment and therefore its sustainability cannot be assured without ensuring maintenance of the environment, they felt.

It is a major challenge to create such innovative technologies for ensuring sustainable development. The effort will need to range from creation of appropriate strategies, systems, cultures, structures and skills to manage this objective.

Sanjiv Tyagi, member secretary, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, made a presentation, 'Balancing growth and sustainable development: Tasks at hand and progress so far.'

He talked about the role of small and medium enterprises and environmental justice in Indian perspective.

Dinesh Yadav, chairman, CII Gujarat environment and cleaner production council, said, "Business and environment are like study and sport, neither is good alone. Both are to go concurrent for the best result of each aspect. Both help each other and both are equally important for best results. Any expenditure on ISO results in business improvement directly or indirectly. The need is to understand and account this benefit to its true value and to decide the affordability."

Sailesh Patwari, chairman, Naroda Enviro Projects, talked on 'What will it take to shift industry focus from end-of-pie management of wastes to cleaner production?'

Arvind Talati, architect, while talking on 'Environmental protection through regeneration of lakes and water bodies of Ahmedabad city', said "...it might be good to think of environment also not just drinking water. The resource of lakes and waterbodies seems to have been totally ignored."

R Gopichandran, senior scientist, Centre for Environment Education, presented a paper on 'Preparing environmentally conscious decision makers: The role of research and educational institutions'.

He said, "It may be quite restrictive to view only administratively empowered regulatory and legislative elements as the ones responsible for taking environmentally relevant decisions. Such decisions have to be taken by all the people in the society. Regulatory, fiscal and technical frameworks have to evolve appropriate measures that are based on well-defined institutional mechanisms."

The workshop was a focused effort to build awareness on effective environment management and sensitise young managers to environment concerns, the organisers said.