Sustainable Holistic Approaches and Know-how Tailored to India

The project "Sustainable Holistic Approaches and Know-how Tailored to India (SHAKTI)" was supported as part of the BMBF funding programme "Global Change - Research for the Sustainable Development of Tomorrow's Megacities" and was carried out by an Indian-German consortium. In addition to the coordinators - the European Institute for Energy Research (EIfER) and the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) - numerous German and Indian research institutes, NGOs, local and regional administrative organisations, public and private utility companies took part.

SHAKTI focussed on the city of Hyderabad, the capital of the province of Andhra Pradesh in south-eastern India. High growth rates, particularly in the field of new technologies, which were located in the periphery (Cyberabad), were offset by a Muslim-dominated old city centre with increasing population density and inadequate infrastructure. This situation formed the arc of tension that had to be taken into account in future development. On the basis of existing objectives, development perspectives and problem-solving strategies were developed in the city of Hyderabad together with local partners. Building on this, integrated projects were initiated for the implementation phase, which addressed both short-term challenges as well as medium and long-term requirements for sustainable development. The definition and prioritisation of problem areas was largely based on the local knowledge of the Indian partners, while strategies and specific projects were developed through joint learning and communication processes.

Three strategic goals were defined in SHAKTI:

• Sustainable concepts and strategies for dealing with rapid growth
• Sustainable modernisation and adaptation of urban technical infrastructure (water, wastewater, energy, transport)
• Adaptable and integrated learning and planning processes involving relevant stakeholders