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SPEAKERS

Ajay-Poddar

Ajay Poddar
MD, Syenergy Environics Ltd

Anirban-Ghosh

Anirban Ghosh
Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra Group

Arunima Ghosh

Arunima Ghosh
Student, Aga Khan Academy

Atulya Misra

Atulya Misra
Senior IAS officer, Additional Chief Secretary (Tamil Nadu Government), and author of Oxygen Manifesto and Vultures of Paradise.

Bijal Vachharajani

Bijal Vachharajani
Certified Climate ‘Worrier’, Editor at Pratham Books, and author of award-winning children’s books including A Cloud Called Bhurra

Celeste Fernandes

Celesta Fernandes
Student, Sharada Mandir School

Chen Qiufan

Chen Qiufan
Award-winning Chinese author of the acclaimed eco-thriller Waste Tide, Honorary President of Chinese Science Fiction Writers Association, Founder of Thema Mundi Studio.

R Gopal Krishnan

R Gopalakrishnan
Author, Business Leader, Corporate Advisor

Hariharan Chanrashekar

Hariharan Chandrashekhar
Environmental Economist, Entrepreneur, Green Business Mentor, Writer, Policy Advocate and Urban Analyst

Jairam Ramesh

Jairam Ramesh
Member of Parliament, Former Minister of Environment and Forest, Prolific Author

john-elkington

John Elkington
Author, Advisor, Entrepreneur

Mukund Rajan

Mukund Rajan
Author, Chairman at ECube Investment Advisors Private Limited

Murali Sivaramakrishnan

Murali Sivaramakrishnan
Poet, Artist, Critic, Academician and Author. Founder President of ASLE India

Neha Raghav

Neha Raghav
Education Specialist: Content & Training, WWF-India

Nicola Davies

Nicola Davies
Author, The Song that Sings Us

Norma homepage resized

Norma Alvares
Environmentalist, lawyer, social worker, and founding member – Goa Foundation, founder trustee and chairperson – FIAPO

padmini-srinivasan

Padmini Srinivasan
Associate Professor, Finance & Accounting, Chairperson, Centre for Corporate Governance and Citizenship, IIM Bangalore

Radhika Suri

Radhika Suri
Director of Environment Education at WWF India

Ragavan Balaji

Ragavan Balaji
Student, Bombay International School

Rajat Chaudhuri

Rajat Chaudhuri
Bilingual writer, Charles Wallace Creative Writing Fellow, editor of speculative and solar punk stories, author of The Butterfly Effect

Santosh Jayaram 1

Santhosh Jayaram
Global Head – Sustainability, HCL Technologies Limited

Shekhar Patak

Shekhar Pathak
Historian, Academician, Himalayan Traveller, Author and Founder of PAHAR (People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research)

Tamanna Sengupta

Tamanna Sengupta
Environmental Enthusiast and Science Aficionado

Vidya Mani

Vidya Mani
Founder-member Funky Rainbow: A travelling bookshop and book consultancy

Greenlitfest Business
8th December 2021

The purpose of business has moved from looking at pure profits to benefitting people and the planet as well. The needle has moved further – from ‘Doing well by doing Good’ to ‘Profit from Good’; from doing less harm to ecology to believing how businesses can have a transformational impact on all stakeholders.

The purpose of an exclusive session on Green Business Writing at the Greenlitfest is to curate conversations around hot ideas for leaders, entrepreneurs and executives from various forms of green literature. 

4.00 pm – 5.00 pm

Inauguration

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Welcome – Benedict Paramanand, Founder, Greenlitfest

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Inauguration – John Elkington, Author, Advisor, Entrepreneur

Fireside Chat – Green Swans

Green Swans is a manifesto for system change designed to serve people, planet, and prosperity. In his 20th book, John Elkington – dubbed the “Godfather of Sustainability” – explores new forms of capitalism fit for the 21st century.

If Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s “Black Swans” are problems that take us exponentially toward breakdown, then “Green Swans” are solutions that take us exponentially toward breakthrough. The success – and survival – of humanity now depends on how we rein in the first and accelerate the second.

Green Swans draws on Elkington’s firsthand experience in some of the world’s best-known boardrooms and C-suites. Using case studies, real-world examples, and profiles on emergent technologies, Elkington shows how the weirdest “Ugly Ducklings” of today’s world may turn into tomorrow’s world-saving Green Swans.

This book is a must-listen for business leaders in corporations great and small who want to help their businesses survive the coming shift in global priorities over the next decade and expand their horizons from responsibility, through resilience, and onto regeneration.

john-elkington

John Elkington, author of The Green Swan: The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism. He is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable capitalism, a bestselling author and a serial entrepreneur.

Green Swan book
Santosh Jayaram 1

With Santhosh Jayaram, Global Head – Sustainability, HCL Technologies Limited. He is the author of Still Speaking – Volume 1 – Lockdown Days and Still Speaking – Volume  2 – Garden Chronicles

5.00 pm – 5.30 pm

What Businesses Can Learn from Nature

‘Draws on ingenious insights and lessons from nature to emphasize the importance of imbibing, developing, listening to and trusting your intuition – increasingly becoming a differentiator in senior circles – to develop the confidence to take that leap of faith which every risk-bearing decision entails’ – Ratan Tata

5.35 pm – 6.25 pm

The ESG Bonanza – How India Can Build Outstanding Sustainable Businesses 

Black-swan events, global warming, COVID-19 and a host of other natural and man-made disasters have tested the resilience of businesses across the world. Usually, blame for business failures is apportioned to external factors such as adverse business cycles, badly framed government regulations and lack of infrastructure. However, the causes often lie within — short-term thinking, destruction of natural resources, exploitation of labour and poor management, to name a few.

Outlast: How ESG Can Benefit Your Business is a clarion call to corporate leaders to follow the pathway of ESG. The authors, Mukund Rajan and Col. Rajeev Kumar, draw upon their considerable experience of working for some of India’s largest organizations to present evidence and case studies that show that ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) is the mantra of the future. This is a must attend session by business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators and MBA students. Just like Sustainability, ESG will drive strategy of all firms now!

Mukund Rajan

Mukund Govind Rajan, author of OUTLAST – How ESG Can Benefit Your Business, a pioneering Indian business leader in ESG investing

Outlast book
Anirban-Ghosh
Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer, Mahindra Group
padmini-srinivasan

With Padmini Srinivasan, Associate Professor, Finance & Accounting, Chairperson, Centre for Corporate Governance and Citizenship, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. She has varied professional interests in teaching, research and consulting in the areas of Financial Reporting,  Management Accounting,  Corporate Governance and Accountability

6.30 pm – 7.15 pm

GLF Honour Books (Business) Award Ceremony

Awards will be presented by a business leader

Ajay-Poddar

Jury Remarks – Ajay Poddar, MD, Syenergy Environics Ltd

Roselin Minj

Chat with Winners – Roselin Minj, Lead (Partnerships) –  Sustainable Cities, World Resources Institute India

GLF General
9th December 2021

Literature on the environment, be it fiction or nonfiction, has the power to connect us to nature and open the door to climate consciousness in a myriad ways.

Tune into bold conversations and edgy panel discussions with some of the best minds and litterateurs in the green space. Also, hold your breath for the announcement of honour books and awards in the general category.

4.25 pm – 4.40 pm

Exclusive Film Screening – Striped Hyenas in Maharashtra’s Savannas

Watch the exclusive screening of a docuseries, Wild You Were Sleeping by The Habitat Trust, exploring six lesser-known species found in  diverse habitats across India. The series captures some of India’s most fascinating wild species that live among us but are rarely in the spotlight. While the entire series is set to launch on Republic Day (January 26, 2022), you get to watch one full episode – a short film on the elusive striped hyenas that live very close to Mumbai and Pune – only at GreenLitFest. Don’t miss it!

4.40 pm – 5.00 pm

Wetlands & the Jungle Lore: A Medley of 4 Short Films

Watch an eclectic medley of four short films put together by Round Glass Sustain showcasing some captivating moments and engrossing tales as we trail India’s wildlife in India.

Amur Falcon

The Phoenix of the North East: Amur Falcons

Galathea Bay

Galathea Bay: Will the World’s Largest Sea Turtle return to nest in India?

Jungle Grapevine

When a Leopard Hunts, the Jungle Grapevine Buzzes

Globe Skimmer

Globe Skimmer: The Dragonfly that Flies from India to Africa

5.05 pm – 5.50 pm

Post Green: When Nature is Not The Other

Is nature different from us or are we part of nature too? What is Post Green? How have we arrived here? What will it mean to be in the era of Post Green? Tune in to find out at GreenLitFest

Murali Sivaramakrishnan

Murali Sivaramakrishnan dons several hats as a poet, artist, author, critic, academician and founder President of ASLE India (Association for the Study of Literature and Environment). He’s written several critical essays, published volumes of poetry, over 100 research papers and held 15 solo exhibitions of his artwork. The common thread of nature remains the muse in all his works.

Hariharan Chanrashekar

In conversation with Hariharan Chandrashekharan environmental economist, entrepreneur, green business mentor, writer, policy advocate, urban analyst and one of the most awarded realtor CEOs with over 50 awards from four continents and nine nations. Founder chairman of Biodiversity Conservation India Limited and founder of BCIL AltTech Foundation working on zero-energy development strategies for buildings with freedom from the grid for energy, water and waste.

6.00 pm – 7.00 pm

The Age & Rage of Cli-Fi

Rumour has it that in the near future all fiction is going to blend into climate fiction. Why is this new genre so hot? How are Indian and international authors showing us climate-change possibilities and eventualities through fiction? Have prophecies already turned true? Gear-up for a 360 degree look at climate-change fiction with authors who’re pushing the boundaries from writing cli-fi for children to penning eco-thrillers for adults and creating futuristic worlds with eco-centric development to imagining anthropocene epochs in eco-dystopias.

Chen Qiufan

Chen Qiufan a.k.a. Stanley Chan is an award-winning Chinese speculative fiction author of acclaimed eco-techno-thriller Waste Tide, translator, creative producer and curator. Founder of Thema Mundi Studio. Honorary President of Chinese Science Fiction Writers Association.

Waste Tide
Bijal Vachharajani

Bijal Vachharajani is a certified Climate ‘Worrier’, editor at Pratham Books, and author of award-winning children’s books including A Cloud Called Bhura and Savi and the Memory Keeper.

Atulya Misra

Atulya Misra is a senior IAS officer, Additional Chief Secretary (Tamil Nadu Government), and author of Oxygen Manifesto and Vultures of Paradise.

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Rajat Chaudhuri

In conversation with Rajat Chaudhuri, bilingual writer, columnist, editor and co-editor of speculative and solar punk stories and author of several books, including The Butterfly Effect. Book Riot listed the book among the ‘Fifty must read eco-disasters in fiction’ and also ‘Ten works of environmental literature from around the world’. He has advocated climate issues at UN, New York, been a Charles Wallace Creative Writing Fellow, a Hawthornden Castle Fellow, Korean Arts Council Fellow-InKo and a past resident of the Sangam House International Writers Residency.

Rajat Chaudhuri_Butterfly Effect

7.00 pm – 8.00 pm

The Chipko Movement & Chronicling Environment History

Shekhar Patak

Shekhar Pathak is a writer, academician, founder of PAHAR (People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research) and a quintessential historian-as-fieldworker, who has authored ‘The Chipko Movement: A People’s History‘ after having lived in many valleys, studied several landscapes where the Chipko protests took place and spoken at length with protesters and communities.

The Chipko Movement
Jairam Ramesh

In conversation with Jairam Ramesh, Member of Parliament, Former Minister of Environment and Forest and author of Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India, Indira Gandhi: A Life in Nature, and The Light of Asia: The Poem that Defined The Buddha.

8.00 pm – 9.00 pm

GLF Honour Books (General) Award Ceremony

Jairam Ramesh

Jairam Ramesh, Member of Parliament, Former Minister of Environment and Forest, Prolific Author

Neha Dara

Neha Dara, Business Head, RoundGlass Sustain

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Norma Alvares, is an environmentalist, lawyer, social worker, founding member of Goa Foundation, founder trustee and chairperson of FIAPO, founder of Other India Book Store and Other India Press. She has argued around 300 PIL cases for Goa’s NGOs and citizen groups.

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Zai Whitaker, Acclaimed Naturalist, Educator and Writer

GLF Children and Youth
10th December 2021

The Earth is getting hotter every year, many species of plants and animals are vanishing, the seas are rising and natural disasters like floods, heatwaves and droughts have become common… The children of today live in a world beset by climate change and anxiety. So, it matters what we’re telling them through literature. Greenlitfest’s children’s programme is a unique bid to engage with Indian children’s literature on the environment. Our inaugural programme will have conservationists, educationists, publishing professionals, writers and the children themselves talking about why we need to go green with children’s literature and the books that pave the way.

4.00 pm – 4.30 pm

Why Green Literature Matters?

WWF-India have been at the forefront of environment education in India since 1970s. Over the past few years they have been deeply invested in promoting environmental literature for children. Their publications division has either published or supported the publication of such literature with various publishers such as Penguin Random House India, Karadi Tales and Tulika. In this presentation they take us through the need for such literature, the gap in the domain and how to build environmental stewardship through books.

Radhika Suri

An educationist and storyteller at heart, Radhika Suri is the Director of Environment Education at WWF India. From urban areas to the remotest parts of India, WWFs standardized education programs, designed under her leadership, continue to have an impact on the lives of over 500,000 children and youth every year. A true believer in the power of books and stories as teaching tools, she has focused on expanding WWFs publication repository to include engaging and creative books, guides, manuals and more for teachers, students and youth.

WWF India Logo
Neha Raghav

A passionate educator for over two decades, Neha is an Education Specialist: Content & Training at WWF-India. She joined the organisation in 2015 and has made significant contributions to its vision for environment education by building and executing its strategy for promoting green literature and engaging with a variety of stakeholders, especially students, educators and school heads of government and private schools across the country.

4.30 pm – 5.10 pm

Nature, Childhood and Our Emotional Lives: How Literature Binds Us

Can books really make a difference to how we interact with the natural world? In this insightful conversation, the internationally renowned, award-winning children’s writer, Nicola Davies, shares her experiences with Funky Rainbow’s Vidya Mani.

Nicola Davies

English zoologist and children’s author, Nicola Davies has been writing books set in the natural world since the 1990s. She has written over 60 children’s books in her long career and was also a presenter at the BBC’s popular children’s wildlife programme that began in the 1980s and ended in 2006. Her latest book, The Song that Sings Us is an epic environmental adventure novel published by Firefly Press in October this year.

The Song that Sings Us
Vidya Mani

One of India’s foremost children’s book curators, Vidya Mani was the managing editor of the children’s book review site Goodbooks, and helped institute The Hindu Young World-Goodbooks Awards for children’s books. She runs a content and design studio called Melting Pot that creates children’s books and magazines for publishers and NGOs, and is a founder-member of Funky Rainbow, a travelling bookshop and book consultancy.

5.10 pm – 6.00 pm

Role of Green Literature in My Life: A Panel Discussion with Children

Our children’s jury has the last word on how they engage with literature on the environment, before announcing the Honour Books as chosen by them.

Arunima Ghosh

Nine-year-old Arunima Ghosh is a student at the Aga Khan Academy in Hyderabad. She loves music, art, reading books, writing and playing with her pup, Jasmine. For the last two years, she has been running a reading club called ‘Book Club Buddies’.

Ragavan Balaji

Twelve-year-old Ragavan Balaji is a student at the Bombay International School. He loves to discover the how and why of the world and dreams of becoming an inventor one day. He enjoys reading, Minecraft and long swims.

Celeste Fernandes

Fourteen-year-old Celesta Fernandes lives in Goa and studies at the Sharada Mandir school. She loves to read and write stories.

Tamanna Sengupta

In conversation with 23-year-old Tamanna Sengupta, an environmental enthusiast and science aficionado who works in the non-profit space and seeks to take scientific knowledge of climate change and action to the wider public, allowing them to understand the intricacies of the crisis better and, as a result, demand appropriate action from authorities.

6.00 pm – 7.00 pm

GLF – WWF Honour Books (Children) Award Ceremony

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Archana Atri, Jury Moderator
A champion of Indian children’s literature, Archana Atri began one of the first indie book clubs – AA’s Book Nerds – for children in the NCR, to encourage them to read books in an unconstrained manner.

Ridhima Pandey

Ridhima Pandey, Young Climate Activist
Often likened to Greta Thunberg, 14-year-old Ridhima Pandey from Uttarakhand has been fighting for climate action since she was nine. In 2020, the BBC included her on its list of 100 inspiring and influential women.