SRI SRI UNIVERSITY

Overview of the conference RSPWP, Theme and Objectives

The Faculty of Architecture at Sri Sri University is planning to organize a two-day national conference which will provide a platform to deliberate upon different developmental issues in planning and policies about women’s participation in the country’s growth and economy creating a livable, inclusive and sustainable urban built environment.

Traditional spatial planning tends to overlook women’s needs related to safety, access to public spaces, sanitation, and transportation. Thus, a gender-sensitive approach can improve infrastructure planning, ensuring that cities and villages are designed to be more inclusive and accommodating to women’s daily lives, promoting equity.

Holding a conference on spatial planning from a women’s perspective in India is significant for several reasons, addressing critical aspects of urban and rural development, gender equality, and social inclusion. Women experience urban and rural spaces & built environments differently than men due to societal norms, security concerns, access to resources, and mobility constraints. Well-planned spaces that consider women’s mobility and access to markets, workplaces, and services contribute to their economic empowerment.

In the backdrop of a recent incident in Kolkata that has stirred the conscience of the entire nation and sent across a message which is loud and clear: women’s safety in public spaces is a significant concern in India (even for the educated, upwardly mobile and empowered women). Conferences can lead to discussions on creating safer spaces with proper illumination, transportation options, and brainstorming over how urban design can be altered to reduce risks of harassment and violence, fostering a sense of security for women.

1. To explore how women’s unique needs and experiences can shape spatial planning and urban design.
2. To discuss alternative innovative strategies for creating inclusive, safe, and accessible built environments.
3. To share best practices and case studies from around the world to enhance female participation.
4. To foster collaboration among urban planners, architects, policymakers, and community advocates.
   
   

Theme-1: Women’s role in Environment Resilience, adaptability and change management

• Women as agents of change for disaster risk management
• Post covid resilience in the minor communities/informal sector: Studying the change of livelihood pattern, land shifting and quality of life of women.
• Women in Migration: Spatial Displacement and Cultural Adaptation
• Strategies, flexibility, and organizational resilience in women
• Gender equality, resilience to climate change

Theme-2: Women and Place-Making

• Public spaces from a woman’s perspective.
• Women’s role in cultural practices in sustainable spatial planning.
• Women in participation, and cultural diversity
• Power Structures, sacred space and women

Theme-3: Accessibility, Mobility and Approachability

• Safe and Inclusive Transportation Systems
• Safe streets, walkability & women’s Mobility
• Engendered Inclusive Work Environments
• Women, water and Quality of life

Theme-4: AI Governance and Women Empowerment

• Digital Gender equality
• Information outreach and women empowerment in marginal communities
• Role of AI in Equal Education