India Universities and Institutions Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (IUINDRR)
About: In compliance with the Hon'ble Prime Minister's ten-point Agenda 6 to “Develop a network of universities to work on disaster issues in India”and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction spanning from 2015 to 2030, the India Universities and Institutions Network for Disaster Risk Reduction (IUINDRR- NIDM) was established by NIDM with the approval of the Ministry of Home Affairs and was formally inaugurated by the Minister of State, Shri Nityanand Rai on 24th February, 2021. IUINDRR stands as one of the few networks in the world that provides a platform for national academia for capacity building, innovations and policy advocacy to collaborate in order to mitigate and minimize the impacts of disasters.
Aim & Objective: Mainstreaming DRR into higher education, creating academia-policy interface across states, documenting the development and dissemination of knowledge, and promoting research and capacity development in the field of disaster risk reduction.
Members: Membership is presently open for Indian universities and institutions only. The network currently has over 300 member universities and institutions across India, including prestigious entities such as the IITs, IIMs, NITs, IIRS and Central universities.
Major Initiatives:
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Model Curriculum on DRR: A bilingual three-module curriculum on Disaster Risk Reduction has been developed as per NEP 2020.
- UG: Foundation course (3 credits), Certificate course (36 credits)
- PG: Postgraduate diploma (48 credits)
- UGC notified syllabus on February 24, 2022.
- Policy advocacy: UGC has approved the inclusion of Disaster Management as a subject in the UGC-NET from December 2024 following policy advocacy efforts.
- Strengthening and promotion of Research: Three key initiatives have been launched in 2024- NIDM Doctoral Fellowship programme, Research Projects: Innovation & Action Research, and Best Thesis Ranking in Disaster Studies. The doctoral fellowship has been awarded to 4 fellows and 3 research projects have been sanctioned for the year of 2024-25.
- Mapping of expertise: A dedicated portal has been developed to develop a pool of experts and to collate best practices in DRR, currently mapping over 180 national and international experts.
- Academic capacity building: Regional and state-level faculty development programmes are being conducted to mainstream DRR in higher education. Four regional programmes for the Northern, Southern, North East, and J&K regions have been organized so far.
- Leveraging network resources: Efforts to leverage the potential of the network include the pooling of expert members (eg. IIT Mandi, IIT Delhi & DTU) for the project of MORTH, engaging the students & faculty for NIDM E-learning Courses, NIDM Journal, iGOT, collaboration for audiovisual studio for recording lectures, and the internship programme of NIDM.
- Development of foundational learning resources: Academic handbooks are being prepared to facilitate the integration of DRR into diverse academic disciplines.
- Compilation of Best Practices: A compendium on ‘Women’s Role in Disaster Risk Management’ was released on International Women’s Day 2024.
IUINDRR Portal
