On October 7, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) inaugurated a new School of Sustainability. The school aims to teach new and interdisciplinary sustainability courses, to collaborate on research to address grand challenges, and to provide a platform for hosting events and showcasing technologies that can help drive both practise and policy.

The new School of Sustainability is envisioned as a Centre of Excellence, bringing together faculty members from the Institute's departments and research centres.

The new school plans to offer a variety of sustainability-related capacity building programmes to working professionals both online and in person, in addition to a minor course in sustainability and an interdisciplinary master's programme in the subject.

According to an IIT Madras statement, the school's activities will focus on basic scientific research, technology development and transfer, real-world project implementation, and policy advisory activities.

The IIT Madras School of Sustainability highlighted its teaching and research initiatives, stating that, in addition to the minor course in sustainability set to launch in 2024, the school plans to launch an Integrated Dual Degree Programme (IDDD) on Sustainability within the next three to five years.

In addition, the school has identified four key areas of research and development: decarbonization, human settlements, modelling and scenario development, and behavioural and industrial change. In these areas, the school will conduct basic scientific research, translational and product development, pilot implementations, and policy advisory.