About CEPT:
The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) is sponsored by the Ahmedabad Education Society (AES). The CEPT is a premier voluntary non-profit organisation established in 1935, devoted to the cause of education at all levels in several branches of learning. It is now a registered society and a public trust. CEPT offers full time undergraduate programmes of five year duration in Architecture, Construction Technology and Interior Design supported by State Government and post graduate programmes of one and a half year duration in Urban and Regional Planning, Housing, Environmental Planning, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture funded by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and Construction and Project Management and Structural Design which are self financing.
CEPT is an autonomous institution imparting education in the multi-disciplinary fields of the built environment, offering its own Diplomas for various academic programmes, which are recognized by the Government, AICTE and professional bodies. Its affairs are managed by the Governing Council consisting of nominees of the Ahmedabad Education Society, CEPT Society, AICTE, and Government, experts from Academics and the profession, industry as well as its faculty.
Autonomous status has enabled CEPT to bring innovative changes in curriculum and teaching methods from time to time and to keep pace with the advancements in the academic areas. This also has made it possible to have a close interaction between the students and the professional experts as well as to establish students and faculty exchange programmes with institutions in India and abroad. In-depth interaction with the faculty and students is assured. Considering the professional nature of the disciplines dealing with built form, a number of experts from the industry, profession, regularly teach at CEPT as visiting faculty.
CEPT has been accorded the status of Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (SIRO) by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India since 1995. Contributions made to CEPT are exempted 100% from income tax under Income Tax Act Sections 35 (i) (ii) and 50% under Section 80 (G).
Aim:
The ultimate aim of education is to make students aware of the multidimensional issues of contemporary society and to meet the challenges arising out of resolving these issues. It deals with accumulated knowledge helping students to translate these into actions, appropriate to their own time. In process, it is dynamic analysis of culture, values, knowledge and methodology.
About School of Planning:
The School of Planning, established in 1972, is one of the foremost Schools of Planning in the country. It offers Postgraduate Diplomas in Planning, which are recognized by the AICTE, approved by AITPI for registration as Planners and recognized by Universities in India and abroad for registration for Ph.D. in relevant fields. The School offers eighteen months Postgraduate programme in Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Planning and Housing. The planning programme is a multi-disciplinary, the graduates from Architecture and Civil Engineering or post graduate with Economics, Sociology and Geography are entitled for the admission.
Specialisations Offered:
The post-graduate programme in Urban and Regional Planning emphasizes a multi-disciplinary approach focusing on spatial, social and economic issues related to human habitat in urban, rural and regional contexts. Its coverage ranges from policy perspectives for planning and management of development programmes to preparation of action plans at the micro level. The course aims at a holistic coverage of urban and regional planning issues as well as specific inputs in different areas like transportation, computer applications, remote sensing, infrastructure planning, urban management etc. through a number of core and elective courses.
The post-graduate programme in Housing takes a comprehensive view at this sector. It encompasses policy and programme analysis, land and finance policies, urban infrastructure, housing market analysis, housing design and technology, real estate marketing and management, computer applications and community based actions. The courses aim at an understanding of the private and popular initiatives, viewing the public sector’s role as a facilitator. It is expected that this course will lead to development of skills and expertise necessary to work as a specialist in the field of housing.
The post-graduate programme in Environmental Planning emphasizes rational and scientific decision-making for planned actions in different human activities compatible with the objectives of sustainable development. With courses covering environmental economies, environmental impact assessment, policies, legislation, and technologies, the programme aims at the integration of various issues to develop comprehensive strategies for environmental planning and management.
The total programme in Planning is divided into five trimesters. The first trimester core courses are common to all specialization, and in trimesters the courses are specific to each specialization. A number of elective courses are offered from the second trimester onwards. In the first three trimesters, four different field-based planning exercises or projects are also undertaken. During fourth trimester students work on their individual projects (dissertation) along with two core courses. In the fifth trimester, the students work full-time on independent research leading to dissertation.
From its inception, the primary focus of the academic programme has been on sustainable development of human settlements and improving the quality of life of the urban and rural populace through better access to employment opportunities, infrastructure services and housing.
Academic Collaborations:
For its academic programme, the School collaborates with reputed educational and research institutions in Ahmedabad, like the Space Application Centre, Gandhi Labour Institute, Indian Institute of Management, Sardar Patel Institute of Economic and Social Research, Vastu-Shilpa Foundation, Gujarat Institute for Developmental Research, Centre for Environmental Education, Physical Research Laboratory etc. Professionals from private and public sector organisations in Ahmedabad are also invited as visiting faculty to strengthen the academic programme while sharing their knowledge and experience. The School also collaborates with international institutions such as University of Oslo, Norway, University of Stuttgart, Germany and University of Birmingham, U K for knowledge exchange.
Facilities at Campus:
The library at the campus is a member of INFLIBINET, has approximately 30,000 books, technical videos and teaching materials. The library subscribes to about 99 periodicals. Library operations are computerised to facilitate normal maintenance functions as well as search and retrieval of books.
The Computer laboratories are well equipped with a range of workstations, personal computers, printers and required software.
Cyberspace with several terminals and a dedicated 64 KBPS line is available for sixteen hours a day.
Environmental Science Laboratory has Solar Scope, Sun-Dial, Lux Meters and Data Loggers for Thermal Illumination and Sound Levels.
The School has very well equipped Remote Sensing Laboratory with sophisticated optical equipments. Geographical Information System Laboratory has three numbers of servers, six numbers of x-terminals and six user licenses for Arc Info software and EASI Pace software for digital image processing.
Teaching of Remote Sensing and GIS in the Campus:
With the advancement in technology, the School has introduced a subject on Remote Sensing during the year 1988 to the post graduate students of planning and later during 1992 the subject Geographical Information System had been introduced. The subject has attracted number of students to use remote sensing and GIS in their dissertation studies and hailed good employment opportunity. At present there are fifty four students in the School of Planning is learning the subject.
Today the subject, remote sensing and GIS has not confined within School of Planning but also it is being taught to the students of School of Landscape Architecture and School of Building Science and Technology. The students of School of Architecture are also understanding the application of the technology and apply in their group or individual studies. During the early year there were 15-20 students were undertaking training in remote sensing and GIS today the number has reached to more than 80. Unfortunately, the infrastructure facilities for teaching these many students have not enhanced. It is time now to look into the expansion and upgrade of the exiting technology infrastructure so as to bring excellence in training.
Research and Planning Activity:
School of Planning undertakes Research and Planning in a wide variety of interdisciplinary areas. Central/State Government, Local and Urban Development Authorities and private consultancy firms avail of these services. Some of the representative assignments where applications of remote sensing and GIS have been used during last few years are listed below:
- ficial Recharge of Ground Water Resources for Mahesana District - A GIS Solution, sponsored by GWRDC, Government of Gujarat.
- Monitoring Environmental Changes due to Industrialization and Identification of 'Hot Spots' in Vapi-Vadodara part of Golden Corridor, sponsored by Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, New Delhi.
- Waste Land Mapping of Valsad and Amreli Districts, sponsored by NRSA, Hyderabad.
- Grass Land Mapping of Bhavnagar District, sponsored by Space Application Centre.
- Land Use mapping of Coastal Regulation Zone of Kachchh District on 1:25,000 scale, sponsored by Space Application Centre.
- Wetlands Mapping of Gujarat on 1:250,000 scale and building of Spatial Information System, sponsored by Space Application Centre.
- Urban Health Management Information System for Jetpur & Surat, Gujarat State, funded by Department of Urban Development, Government of Gujarat.
- Liberalization & its Emerging Impacts on Sustainable Urban Development in Gujarat State ( 4- Year Research Project along with the University of Oslo) funded by NUFU, Norway.
- Identification of Location of Weir on River Tapi, sponsored by Surat Municipal Corporation.
- State Environmental Action Programme, sponsored by Gujarat Ecology Commission under World Bank Project.
- Environmental Assessment of Veraval Harbour Area, sponsored by Gujarat Ecology Commission and NGO Action.
- Slum Mapping using High Resolution Satellite Images, sponsored by Department of Urban Development and Housing, Government of Gujarat.
Recognisation:
The School of Planning, CEPT is recognized institute by Department of Urban Development and Housing, Government of Gujarat to undertake Research and Planning projects, to perform a role of advisor in many of their activities such as preparation of Development Plans, Disaster Management Plans, preparation of document for tenth five year plan, organizing long-term and short-term training for development and management of urban development etc.
Need for Education in the field of Geospatial Information Technology in Planning:
As we know, the application of Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS technology helps achieving balanced development. India is emerging as an important power in the field of mapping sciences in Asia-Pacific region and has also become a major center for mapping technologies and solutions. Time has now arrived to firm up a common agenda for government, academicians and industry to participate jointly in the process of Human Settlement Planning as equally responsible and symbiotic players.
We are today experiencing a dynamic process of fast urbanization. As a result the lives in towns and cities have become more complex and challenging. With the advancement in the science and technology there has been a revolutionary change in the field of IT but its application is still limited, it has not reached to the planning field as required. In the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, the planning process will be initiated from the local administrative level to district plans, metropolitan plans and national plans. This will necessitate to introduce modernize data base management so that all kinds of data, spatial and aspatial may be integrated and ultimately, national programes can get a shape in progressive direction.
To achieve the essential results it is very much important to train and develop human resources in the field of geospatial planning who can able to keep a pace along with the technological advancement and apply the same in real time frame work and in proper manner to achieve a desired goal. Today, many universities in the country are offering M.Tech. degree in RS and GIS, there are institutions awarding degree in planning at graduate and post graduate level. In the planning education they offer one subject in application of RS and GIS. But that is not enough. The gap in the technology produce and its use needs to be reduced and this may happen only when we have well qualified and trained manpower available.
Future Plans of CEPT:
The School of Planning, CEPT is scheduling to go ahead in the direction of educational enhancement in the field of remote sensing, geographical information system and global positioning systems in coordination with the planning specialisation. An academic programme at post graduate level to be introduced with the aim to comprise the knowledge in geospatial field and in planning field together so as to achieve the total benefits form the application of the technology in the implementation of the projects and plans at all levels.
In addition to a post graduate programme in geospatial information technology in planning, we aim to generate an awareness and interest among college teachers and individuals while organizing series of short term training programmes at the CEPT campus
Source: Anjana Vyas
Professor
School of Planning, CEPT
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