ATREE@25
The two-day event under the broad theme ‘Life and Lives’ will have sessions on Naturescapes, Urbanscapes and Waterscapes.
The programme will be a combination of technical talks, stimulating discussions, café-style debates, panel discussions, fascinating films and a cultural programme.
Please click here to register for the event.
(Welcome kit will be given to the first 500 registrations)
08:30 - 9:45 AM | ![]() ![]() |
10:00 - 10:15 AM | Welcome Note - G Ravikanth, ATREE |
10:15 - 10:45 AM | Reflections on 25 years of Conservation Science Asmita Sengupta in conversation with: Kamaljit S Bawa, Founder-President & Chair, ATREE KN Ganeshaiah, BoT, ATREE R Uma Shaanker, BoT, ATREE |
10:45 - 12:30 PM |
Creating Knowledge for Sustainable & Equitable Development |
Keynote Address - Sharachchandra Lele, ATREE "Bridging Disciplines, Bridging Roles: Inter-and trans-disciplinary challenges in environmental research" |
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Panel Discussion: "Knowledge-for-change: ATREE's quest for rigour with salience” Moderator: Sharachchandra Lele Svati Bhogle, Sustaintech India Private Limited, Clean Energy Access Network Jai Asundi, CSTEP Seema Purushothaman, APU |
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12:30 - 1:00 PM | Lunch ![]() |
01:00 - 1:30 PM | Plenary: Naturescape - Nitin Sekar, WWF-India "Why do we conserve species that kill people?" |
1:35 - 3:30 PM | Naturescapes showcase |
1:35 - 1:50 PM | Mahesh Sankaran, NCBS “Shola-grassland mosaics: past, present and future” |
1:55 - 2:10 PM |
T Ganesh, ATREE Film- Rainforest Dynamics in a Changing World (2 min) |
2:15 - 2:30 PM | Sarala Khaling, ATREE "Place based solutions for biodiversity conservation in the hills & mountains of Eastern Himalaya: Emerging & Evolving Stories" |
2:35 - 2:50 PM |
Priyadarsanan Dharmarajan, ATREE Film- Edible Insects (1 min) |
2:55 - 3:30 PM |
Rendezvous with Umesh Srinivasan, IISc “Mainstreaming biodiversity conservation and sustainable use and averting the current biodiversity crisis” |
3:30 - 3:35 PM | Book release by Prabhakar Priyadarshi
Why are some species found everywhere, and why does it matter? |
3:35 - 3:50 PM | Tea/ Coffee ![]() |
3:50 - 4:20 PM | ![]() |
4:20 - 4:30 PM |
Book Release: by V B Mathur, Chairman, National Biodiversity Authority A Field Guide to Fishes of Vembanad by Anu Radhakrishnan, Maneeja Murali, Bibin Xavier & Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan Ullam: A book for school students around Vembanad to know the life and lives around them by Maneeja Murali & Priyadarsanan Dharma Rajan |
4:30 - 5:30 PM |
Checklist of India's Plants Conversations KN Ganeshaiah, School of Ecology and Conservation, University of Agricultural Sciences Book Release Portal Launch Reflections |
5:45 - 6:45 PM |
Cultural programme from our Community Conservation Centre landscapes Villupaattu: Tirunelveli has a unique Villisai style that is very popular in temple festivals. Vil, kudam, udukkai, chalra, and kattai are the five key instruments in a traditional villupaattu performance. The pulavar or the lead singer narrates the story of the deity with songs while playing the villu (bow) with a veesu koal (a stick) that helps the bells on the bow to chime. Kaniyan Koothu: Kaniyan Koothu is performed exclusively by the Kaniyan tribe from the southern districts of Tamil Nadu during temple festivals. Their performance has evolved in praise of Sudalai Madan and Amman deities found in many forms along the banks of Tamiraparani. Two men in the guise of women dance vigorously to the rhythm of ‘magudam,’ a specialised percussion instrument, and clash cymbals. Chavittu Nadakam: Chavittu Nadakam is a highly colorful Latin Christian classical art form originated in Ernakulam, Kerala, India. Fort Kochi is commonly believed to be the birthplace of Chavittu Nadakam. It is noted for its attractive make-up of characters, their elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the rhythmic playback music and complementary percussion. This art form highly resembles a European opera. Gorukana: The Solega Pantheon includes numerous Gods, Goddesses, warrior beings, and deities associated with waterfalls and sacred rocks. At the time of the important Roti (bread) festival, the Solega dance the Gorukana that includes verses on numerous subjects including birds, rain, Gods and Goddesses, honey bees, and animals such as gaurs, tigers, elephants and bears. 'Goru goru' represents the sound of the wind blowing through the forests of the Biligiriranga Hills. 'Kana' is the Solega word for evergreen forest. |
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8:30 - 9:00 AM | ![]() ![]() |
9:00 - 9:05 AM |
Welcome Note - Vamsidhar Pothula, ATREE |
9:05 - 9:35 AM | Plenary: Urbanscapes - Anne Feenstra, Principal Designer, Himalayan Architecture & Planning "Urban Equipoise -the search for better balanced and healthier urbanscapes through scenario-thinking" |
9:35 - 9:40 AM | Film - Solutions to reuse wastewater for greening, construction and recharge |
9:40 - 11:30 AM | Urbanscapes Showcase |
9:40 - 9:55 AM | Shreya Nath, ATREE-CSEI "Integrating water circularity into Blue-Grey-Green Infrastructure" |
10.00 - 10:15 AM | Chandni Singh, Indian Institute for Human Settlements "Growing Cities: Farmscapes across Rural and Urban India" |
10:20 - 10:35 AM | Chethana Casiker, ATREE "Bees and cities – is there a win-win?" |
10:40 - 10:55 AM | Anindya Sinha, NIAS "Becoming and Being Urban: Reflections on Nonhuman Urbanisation" |
10:55 - 11:30 AM |
Rendezvous with Anindya Sinha “Moving towards sustainability in urbanscapes” |
11:30 - 11:55 AM | R.Uma Shaanker in conversation with former directors |
12:00 - 12:30 PM | Plenary: Waterscapes – Dipak Gyawali, Pragya, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology & Former Minister of Water Resources of Nepal “Stressed and Insulted Waterscapes: Countering Mal-Development and Climate Change through the Nexus Approach” |
12:35 - 12:40 PM | Film: Testing Still Waters |
12:40 - 1:10 PM | Lunch ![]() |
1:10 - 2:45 PM | Waterscapes Showcase |
1:10 - 1:25 PM | Sumit Sen, IIT Roorkee "Viewing water pathways from the HILLTOP: Himalayan Instrumentation Laboratory and Long-term Observation Program" |
1:30 - 1:45 PM | Priyanka Jamwal, ATREE “Water circularity at rural schools: Insights from Berambadi, India” |
1:50 - 2:05 PM | Siddhartha Krishnan, ATREE "The Environmental Injustice of Living and Leaving- Restoring Chennai's Cooum and Adyar Rivers" |
2:05 - 2:40 PM |
Rendezvous with Jagdish Krishnaswamy, Indian Institute for Human Settlements Vishnu Venugopal, IAS, District collector, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu |
2:40- 3:10 PM |
Siang Valley expedition Film- Highlights of Siang (1 min) Sandesh Kadur in conversation with: |
3:10 - 3:15 PM |
Book release by |
3:20 - 3:30 PM | Tea/ Coffee Break ![]() |
3:30 - 5:00 PM |
Cafe Controversial Café Compassion: To feed or not to feed animals? Cafe Vriksha: To plant or not to plant trees? Cafe Organic: To turn or not to turn organic? |
5:00-5:15 PM |
Announcement - Ms. Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Co-founder & Director, EkStep Foundation |
5:15-6:15 PM | Panel Discussion: Topic "What lies ahead? Challenges and opportunities for Samaj, Sarkar and Bazaar" Ms. Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, Co-founder & Director, EkStep Foundation (Moderator) K. VijayRaghavan, Former Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India Harini Nagendra, APU Shloka Nath, Tata Trusts Sameer Shisodia, Rainmatter Foundation |
6:15-6:30 PM |
In closing - Moving forward |
6:00-6:15 PM |
Closing Remarks - Vote of thanks |
6:15 - 6:45 PM | ![]() ![]() |

Please click here to register for the event.