Blogs
The blogs are part of WRI India’s mission to provide unbiased, expert analysis on the most important environmental issues facing the world today.
In today’s rapid-fire, fragmented information culture, we hope these insights will provide a measure of clarity to decision-makers worldwide.
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by e -Why We Need to Prioritize Traffic Engineering for Street Safety
A version of this blog was originally published on July 13, 2022 on Scroll.in
Streets are the largest contiguous public spaces in cities across the world. However, they should not be considered as mere conduits for traffic but must be looked at as spaces where people meet, and businesses thrive.
In India, the lack of pedestrian infrastructure makes the basic act of walking fraught...
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by e -How the Kochi Ithile Wayfinding Signages Improved Public Access Through Information Systems
“Not to find one's way around a city does not mean much. But to lose one's way in a city, as one loses one's way in a forest, requires some schooling. Street names must speak to the urban wanderer like the snapping of dry twigs, and little streets in the heart of the city must reflect the times of day.”
- Walter Benjamin, Berlin Childhood in the 1900s (1932)In our digitally connected world, navigating an unfamiliar city is no longer an unsurmountable challenge. However, incorporating wayfinding practices like making basic information easily available in the form of...
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by e -Kawaki, a Community-Led Tree-Based Intervention for Climate Resilience: A Case Study
This is a second in a series of blogs on community-led tree-based intervention to build climate resilience. Please read the first blog here.
The name Kawaki, is formed from two Malayalam words, kawu (grove) and aki (make) which translates to "make a grove". It is also a community-led urban greening movement implemented in Kochi by the city municipal corporation with the technical support of WRI India under the Cities4Forests program....
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by , e -Moving Indian Freight Electrification into the Fast Lane
This is the first in a series of blogs exploring pathways to accelerate the e-mobility transition of India’s freight sector.
At COP26, India pledged to reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45% by 2030. The sector of transportation logistics, one of the fastest growing in India and critical to economic growth, will need to transform considerably to achieve this goal. At present, the Indian freight...
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by , e -Walking Along the Mithi River: Exploring a 17 KM Long Trained River and Urban Settlements on Its "Banks"
This three-part blog series examines one of the many systems Mumbai relies on during the monsoons. The second photo essay, in the series, focuses on the urban settlements along the Mithi river. The "symptoms” observed call for a systemic approach in improving the health and flood resilience of the river. You can read the first blog in the series here.
On his 17 km walk along the Mithi, Abhijit Waghre observed the river’s water level, its flood protection...
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by e -How Kochi Can Use Geospatial Data To Build Resilience and Beat the Heat
This is a first in a series of blogs on community-led tree-based intervention to build climate resilience. Please read the second blog here.
The ever-increasing concrete surfaces in our cities absorb heat from solar irradiance, making the overall atmosphere unbearably hot and escalating energy demands by the residents. This phenomenon is better known as the ‘heat island effect’. Our cities also grapple with steadily rising levels of air...
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by , , e -What Can Be Monitored Can Be Managed: Air Quality Monitoring in Smart Cities
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by e -Exploring Pathways to a Climate Resilient Mumbai: Adopting a Sustainable Landscapes Approach to Urban Development
This blog is the first in a four-part series that highlights critical aspects of implementing the Mumbai Climate Action Plan. Focusing on the significance of conserving the 'Ecology' of the city, the authors outline four pathways of incorporating a sustainable landscape approach in developmental planning.
The impact of climate change on urban lives and livelihoods is worsening and this is evident in the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events, and heat days, over the past decade. Extreme weather...
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by , e -Expanding the Footprint of the Grand Challenge Across Tier-II India
This is the second blog in our three-part blog series, that explores key insights and learnings of the Grand Challenge and electric bus procurement in urban India. Read the first blog in the series here.
The Grand Challenge is a giant stride towards the electrification of India’s public transport, paving the way for accessible, affordable, safe, and clean public transport. Under the Grand Challenge, the state-owned Convergence Energy Services Limited (CESL) announced one of the...