Environmental activist one of 8 recipients.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BANGALORE: Local environmental activist Harini Nagendra, a researcher at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Bangalore, has been conferred the inaugural Elinor Ostrom award for her contribution to solving ecological problems in the city.
The award is given by a confederation of 15 international organizations, including UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Program, in honor of the late Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom, an American political economist, to people and organizations that are involved in improving the life of the masses. Nagendra is one of eight recipients.
The award will be delivered to her at the International Association for Study of the Commons conference, to be held in Japan next month.
Nagendra is involved in research to understand the ecological changes brought out by urbanization in South Asia. Her efforts to preserve the Kaikondarahalli Lake of Sarjapur Road brought her to the limelight.
Nagendra told the Bangalore Mirror, “the award is very special to me as it has been instituted in the name of Elinor Ostrom. She has been a mentor and a dear friend to me. Both of us worked on various projects in Nepal and East Africa. She visited Bangalore back in 2008 and again in February 2012 and stayed with me.”
According to her, the study of forest and urban commons is relatively new to India. According to her, the best way to address environmental problems is by giving more power to local population and citizen activists.
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