People-First Climate Action: A Walk Through Sarhaul’s Transformed Neighborhoods
Climate action must, after a point, take off from reports, presentations and meeting rooms and be visible in transformed neighbourhoods and improved well-being of people.
We invite you outside, to witness a series of transformations that have been quietly, painstakingly implemented in Sarhaul Village in Gurugram. From Complete Streets for active mobility and universal accessibility, to water conservation, heat mitigation, pollution abatement and Nature Based Solutions, which have already improved lives and commutes of the lakhs of residents and office workers in the area. Their innovation lies in the integration of solutions as well as the unprecedented partnership of community, corporates, governments, architects and NGOs that made it happen.
We will walk down the streets with a short detour into the urban village of Sarhaul, talking about the design, implementation, challenges and way forward. We would love to hear from entrepreneurs and innovators from the Delhi Climate Innovation Week on what technology and AI could add to addressing the challenges of this urban village, the streets are already a blueprint for transforming thousands of kilometres of streets around Delhi NCT with 100km of such complete streets being planned in Gurugram. Incorporating tech and AI for the walking, cycling and public transport aspect of the work, making streets EV ready, especially for last mile connectivity options, measuring impact of climate mitigation - green streets and reflective roofs, capturing stormwater runoff and reabsorbing it the ground and reviving ancient water bodies, all of this work can be accelerated - scaled faster with the help of innovative thinking and applied solutions, making this a lab for all those who would like to test their solutions.
Following a 1.5 hour walk, we invite you for a discussion and lunch, with a short movie screening and invitation to submit ideas and ask questions about the work of design and implementation of this climate forward neighbourhood project.
Some of the facets of the work in Sarhaul Village and Sanath Road:
*Mobility - taking polluted, congested, uninclusive road and transforming it into a cool, green corridor with safe and inclusive walking and cycling paths used by over 30,000 pedestrians and cclists.
*Nature Based Solutions - Greenery (UHI mitigation) - Saving 700 trees slated for the axe when the road was originally planned for widening, also planted another 700 tree saplings and more than 70,000 shrubs and ground cover for shade, cooling, pollution absorption and biodiversity, on top of the many additional co-benefits of increased green cover.
*Nature Based Solutions - Water Management - Bioswales along the footpaths capture stormwater runoff, filtering water before it goes to drains, and crucially, recharging the groundwater.
*Women’s Safety - designated vendor zones provide “eyes on the street” along with footpath-specific lighting, benches and rest stops and continuous unobstructed walking path.
*Universal Accessibility - each aspect of design ensures seamless travel for persons with disability, when it comes to edge markers for blind, at-grade crossings, wide spaces for bollards to comfortably accommodate wheelchairs and smooth surfaces
*Waste Management, Pond Revival, Reflective Roofs, Awareness and Behavior Change - work has been initiated on these fronts with some progress that has been made, and we invite collaboration and innovations to accelerate efforts
Who Should Attend:
Anyone who resonates with anything written above. If you feel that you could contribute, learn or collaborate on work, we would love to meet you.
Walk commences at Sanath Road/ Lane No 7 (https://maps.app.goo.gl/UrXeY5FiVXvixuF69),
Culminating with lunch at Nagarro office
(https://maps.app.goo.gl/JVzP4o76zhFYp2YM7)
Parking will be available at Nagarro Office