Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 27 Nov: Prof Durgesh Pant, Director General, UCOST, said at a press conference here, today, that the Uttarakhand State Council for Science & Technology (UCOST) is organising a World Summit on Disaster Management (WSDM 2025) and the 20th Uttarakhand State Science & Technology Conference (USSTC 2025) on 28–30 November 2025 at Graphic Era (Deemed to be University), Dehradun. These landmark events, being organised in the ecologically sensitive Himalayan region, will bring together global experts, policymakers, scientific institutions, innovators, youth leaders, response agencies and community representatives to strengthen India’s scientific ecosystem and disaster resilience framework.
For the World Summit on Disaster Management (WSDM 2025), the Chairman of the Inaugural Session will be Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, whose leadership has emphasised the importance of disaster preparedness, climate resilience, and community-driven scientific awareness. The Chief Guest at the Inaugural Ceremony will be Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Science & Technology and Ministry of Earth Sciences; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office; Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; and Department of Space. Dr Singh’s participation underscores India’s commitment to science-driven resilience, space-based monitoring, advanced early warning systems, and transformative disaster governance.
Governor Lt General Gurmit Singh (Retd) will be the Chief Guest at the Valedictory session.
It is worth noting that, on 28 November, the Chief Guest at the inaugural session of 20th Uttarakhand state science and technology conference 2025, which will be held at the Silver Jubilee Convention Centre, Graphic Era University, will be Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, former Union Education Minister, and former Chief Minister, Uttarakhand. The keynote speaker will be Dr DK Aswal, Member, NDMA.
Prof Durgesh Pant added that a key highlight of USSTC 2025 is the introduction of several prestigious awards aimed at promoting scientific excellence and community leadership. These include the Uttarakhand Vigyan Shiksha Prasar Samman Puruskar, recognising outstanding contributions to science communication and scientific outreach; the Bhagirath Puruskar, honouring exemplary work in disaster management, climate action, and community resilience; and the Uttarakhand Young Women Scientist Award, celebrating the achievements of emerging women researchers who are contributing significantly to scientific innovation and sustainable development. These awards represent UCOST’s commitment to nurturing scientific talent, promoting gender equity, and strengthening grassroots scientific engagement across the state.
Another major new initiative is Uttarakhand’s First State-Level Science & Technology Premier League 2025, designed to take scientific awareness, climate literacy, innovation, and disaster preparedness to every village of Uttarakhand. Teams from all 13 districts will compete in scientific quizzes, innovation displays, disaster-response challenges, and climate-problem–solving tasks. Inspired by the vision of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, this Premier League seeks to prepare the next generation of “Science Ambassadors” and “Climate Resilience Leaders”.
The World Summit on Disaster Management 2025, themed “Strengthening International Cooperation for Building Resilient Communities,” is built around the 5E Framework—Engage, Educate, Enable, Empower, and Excel. The Summit will address the complex challenges posed by climate change, including increasing frequencies of floods, landslides, forest fires, heatwaves, cloudbursts, glacial hazards, and other multi-hazard threats affecting India and the Himalayan region. It aims to establish a global platform for sharing knowledge, technology, governance models, and community-based resilience strategies.
Six major Plenary Sessions will anchor the Summit: Resilient Infrastructure with CDRI; Water Conclave, focusing on Glacial lake outbursts, cloudbursts, rivers, and glaciers; Safeguarding Humanity, addressing public health emergencies; Guardians of the Himalayas, highlighting community voices and indigenous knowledge; Multiple Hazards, covering forest fires, landslides, earthquakes, floods, and cloudbursts; and Resilience Through Traditional Knowledge Systems, exploring Sanskrit, Sanskriti, Parampara, and the deep ecological wisdom of India’s civilizational heritage.
Additionally, twelve Special Technology Sessions (STS) will explore advanced technologies, international partnerships, sustainable financing, policy innovation, and region-specific resilience strategies. These include the Ambassadors’ Policy Roundtable on disaster risk cooperation; the Educators’ Conclave with NIDM; sustainable financing and corporate leadership with IICA; regional cooperation with the Swiss Agency for Development & Cooperation and CBRI; technology leadership; DRF Stack for preparedness and recovery (AON); space technologies, the Sikkim governance model; carbon ecosystem strengthening; the role of media; innovation for DRR; and Himalayan Corridor resilience initiatives.
More than 20 workshops, interactive forums, and special events will be organized, including SHE for STEM—Women in Resilience; biodiversity and biotechnology for climate resilience; water quality monitoring and water literacy; multi-hazard mitigation; inclusive innovation for senior citizens; and crowd management for collective safety. Special events such as the S&T Premier League (Grassroots Edition), Youth Leadership Forum, Women in Resilience Initiative, and Voice of Communities will ensure inclusive participation and representation from diverse sectors and age groups.
The Summit will host an Innovation & Technology Showcase, with participation from various state and central government organisations, startups, scientific institutions and innovators working on early warning systems, space-based monitoring, AI-driven climate analytics, and community-level disaster technologies. Practical demonstrations, rescue simulations, and capacity-building activities will be carried out by national forces including NDRF, SDRF, ITBP, BRO, NIM, NCC, NSS, and SSB, enhancing hands-on disaster preparedness for students, communities and stakeholders.
WSDM 2025 and 20th USSTC 2025 mark a significant milestone in Uttarakhand’s journey toward scientific empowerment, climate resilience, and innovation-led development. Together, these events aim to build a capable, aware, and future-ready Uttarakhand—equipped with strong scientific foundations, resilient communities, empowered youth and globally aligned strategies for disaster risk reduction and sustainable progress.
Also present at the press conference were Amit Pokhriyal, Manager, PR, UCOST, Dr DP Uniyal, Organising Secretary and Joint Director, UCOST, Dr Prahlad Adhikari, Organising Secretary, WSDM, and Puneet Singh.
