Hon. Minister of Education and Human Resources,
Members of the University,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The topic for this UOM Research Week is Research and Innovation Challenges. Indeed we have challenges to face and we cannot rest until we have met them and put research and Innovation on the right track so that they contribute to solutions for the problems of our country.

At the very outset let me congratulate the Vice-Chancellor and the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and his team for organizing this Research Week 2007. Involving the University staff in such an exercise should normally create an atmosphere of excitement, something essential for any new discovery and innovation. Perhaps that is what we have lacking in our own context here, where the ability to motivate staff towards research and innovation has to be reviewed.

This Research Week aims at promoting the importance of research conducted by the University, staff and students, and a platform for the sharing of research findings. Increasing awareness of the work being done here, and its potential to contribute to national development while influencing colleagues in pooling of resources is indeed a laudable enterprise.

Throughout history a country’s ability to make a mark on global development, and assume a leading role, has depended on its ability to harness Science and Technology, and keep abreast in the areas of Research and Innovation. Nature has provided us with tangible and intangible assets, and it is our ability to make full use of them without upsetting the ecological balance that can make our country prosperous and happy.

Research and Innovation are only some aspects of Science and Technology that englobe a wider gamut of issues including policies, technology transfer, commerce, ethics and equity, manpower training, and a balanced view of development. For Research and Innovation to flourish, they have to be seen in the wider view of a National Science and Technology Policy.

National S&T Policy

Hence it is essential for the stakeholders, namely Government, Private Sector, Educational Institutions, Specialized Research Organizations, and representatives of concerned NGO’s and Trade Unions to undertake a series of meetings, chalk out an appropriate S&T policy for the country, and have it endorsed by all parties concerned. Instead of going in an ad-hoc manner, as we have tackled S&T issues here in Mauritius, it is appropriate for us to start with this exercise. The Mauritius Research Council can take the lead and enable us to come up with a proper policy within six months to a year. This falls within its mandate, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and other relevant Ministries and stakeholders, we will have a national policy that can give us a clearer picture of where we are going.

Issues in areas of Transport and Communications, the IT sector, Energy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, Health, Trade and Technology Transfer, Tourism, Foreign Direct Investment, Labour and Employment, along with the over-arching Manpower Requirements will find a proper forum for cross-sectoral review and forecast. The involvement of scientists, engineers, technologists, environmentalists, economists, social scientists, and educationists will be required to chalk out such a policy. In the process, we can come up with short, medium and long-term development scenarios and goals that can guide the country into a proper development path. In the absence of such policies and plans, Mauritius may have a risky development path, especially with the endangering of our natural environment, and the setting up of a framework guided by people from outside who may not share our own concerns as a nation. Such a path dictated from outside usually results in a lot of resentment from the people who often have a different vision of development.

It can be argued that every Government does undertake similar exercises on the eve of the General Elections to prepare its electoral manifesto. It can also be argued that the Ministry in charge of Finance and Planning also undertakes more or less a similar exercise before preparing the national budget for the next year. But we are aware that the time frame for preparing such forecasts, and the people involved in their formulation are not necessarily those who can have a detached vision, irrespective of party politics, and who come from the wide pool of knowledgeable people we can mobilize through a National S&T Policy exercise.

Funding for R&D, S&T

While Mauritius spends hardly 0.3 % of its GDP on the development and promotion of S&T, other countries that recognize the critical importance of this sector, like Singapore, devote more than ten times this amount. The seriousness with which they view this sector because of the competitive advantage it gives a nation, is evident from the measures they take, like having a special S&T lobby in the Government, a special S&T Advisor to the President or Prime Minister, a special Ministry for Science and Technology placed under the President or Prime Minister, and the like. Here we are far behind in this venture! And this results in our poor performance in R&D, Research and Innovation, and the ability of our scientists and technologists to come up with ideas that can produce wealth and economic growth, with ensuing employment generation. We are aware of the immense problems our country is facing with respect to employment creation and satisfying the basic needs of the population.

Hence funding of science and technology should be seen as a priority for Mauritius if research and Innovation are to make a dent in our economy. It must be noted that a major institution like the Mauritius Research Council has been forced to operate on the same budgetary allocations for years now, and that tertiary education has not been privileged either. At the University of Mauritius we have had a drastic budget cut last year. How can we do justice to an area that needs to maintain existing equipment, buy new research material, induct new staff, and that naturally requires adequate promotional funding to save our economy? Especially when the sugar industry is threatened by the EU new thrusts, and the loss of preferential tariffs!

I wish to draw the attention of academic staff and research supervisors to the need for new efforts in raising external funding for their projects. The process starts with establishing person to person links with colleagues in other countries, putting together collaborative projects, and raising funds for the same from interested donors, especially from the Research Trusts, Foundations and Private donors. The time to rely solely on University funding is over, at least for the present. So far, the Mauritius Research Council, of which I am also the Chairman, has been the most important funding agency for projects at the University. Because of budget limitations we now have to look for funding from overseas, and from local private sector.

University-Industry-Government Partnership

While Government funding is restricted, and demands for research funding are increasing, it is high time we establish close links with the local private sector and the Industry. They are the people who benefit most from the research work done here, provided it meets their requirements. The setting up of Research Parks, Incubator centers, and reorganizing of the Research and Consultancy scheme, are now extremely important. The Excellence Centers set up in the last strategic program need to become fully operational fast. Staff members must not be content with their contacts within the university, but must go out of their way to establish contacts with private stake-holders. In the process the nature and quality of research undertaken will automatically change to a more needs-based research activity, and hence have faster impacts on the economy of the country.

I am happy to report that the Mauritius Research Council has already embarked on this idea with its Land-Based Oceanic Industry project that has rallied Government, the Board of Investment, and local private sector people on this innovative scheme. It is high time the University also comes up with new ideas that will make a difference and have an impact on the economy of the country.

Throughout the world universities are getting out of their ivory towers and getting fully involved in the creation of new knowledge that can take the country out of the economic straits we experience. For this we need a new mind-set! No doubt we have so far not succeeded in getting our ideas and findings adequately patented, and the University’s record here leaves much to be desired.

I am also glad to note that the second part of the Research Week lays a lot of emphasis on Intellectual and Industrial Property Rights. The legal protection of new ideas, creations and original findings that have a commercial potential is highly recommended, and I invite every researcher to have this in mind. This can add a new fillip to the desire to make a difference in the quality and impact of the research work being undertaken.

A New Mind-Set

To succeed in this venture we need to drastically change the way we think and do things. So far most staff at the University have relied on personal research and kept the findings very closely guarded for fear of other colleagues poaching on these ideas! This alone could ensure rapid academic promotion. Some have benefited from this tradition and have scaled the heights, but when you look at the impact their work have had on the economy of the country, it is like looking for a needle in a hay-stack! I am not mincing my words here, and invite the staff to a new mode of thinking and doing things. This relies basically in the sharing of ideas through regular departmental seminars, research weeks as we are doing now, joint collaborative multi-sectoral research requiring people from various disciplines to put their heads together to find concerted solutions to specific problems. It relies on the ability of pooling resources and ideas. Then only the findings and publications will make a difference! Let us ask ourselves how many papers that we have produced in the past decade have been authored by many authors together. I am amazed to see some publications in recognized journals having anywhere up to 12 or 15 names amongst its contributors. This is multi-disciplinary approach and thinking which I would like to be followed here. If there are difficulties in embarking on this approach, we should be bold enough, and intellectually honest enough to bring these difficulties to the knowledge of decision makers, and get them taken care of. As academics we are responsible for our own problems. Unless we speak out, our superiors will not know how to change direction. And as intellectuals, we have to learn to cooperate and share.

Reforms in our Education Sector

Perhaps what we experience now is the result of our own educational system that has hardly promoted creativity and innovation. We have inherited a system where cut-throat competition even at an early age has marred our ability to think out of the box. Our examination system and our teachers have had to go by set syllabi geared to a competitive system. Admittedly a doze of competition is necessary, but this should not come in the way of enabling the innate potential of a student to find ample growth and fruition. This is what we have to encourage at all levels of our educational system. Then only, at the university, research and innovation can flourish. I am glad the present Minister of Education is seriously looking into ways to implement creativity and innovation with quality education within the country.

In the area of science education, we have to train teachers to adopt this new approach, and give them adequate freedom to improvise within a canvas of general syllabus. We need new text-books and syllabi, and the pedagogical authorities should review their traditional approach. At the secondary level, we have to invest in setting up of science laboratories in all schools, not only in government schools. At the tertiary level, we have to provide for additional funds for our research equipment and staff. The setting up of Research Chairs through Trusts and Foundations, with government providing the seed money, should be explored. Otherwise this will be another conference in the series that have dented the Mauritian atmosphere over the last generation. Now we need to see concrete changes for the sake of the country.

Conclusion

I am confident this conference on Research and Innovation will make a difference in our strategies, plans and policies. To sum up, we need:-
1. Undertake early the exercise of formulating a National Science and Technology Policy for Mauritius.
2. Allocate adequate resources in terms of percentage of GDP for promoting research and Development along with Science and Technology, move up gradually from the pittance of 0.3 % of the GDP to at least 1 % in the next few years. We have been clamoring for this for nearly a generation now on the UN platforms.
3. Promote University-Industry-government strong Partnership in this area.
4. Develop a new mind-set for research and Innovation at the tertiary level.
5. Promote rapid reforms in our education sector at primary, secondary and tertiary levels, and
6. Be ready to face the onslaughts of a highly competitive global economy that does not discriminate between the inefficient models and the pro-active cooperative models of development.

Our future is in our hands. It is up to us to take up the challenges and face them one by one with strong will, faith in our ability to survive and progress, and faith in our own individual and collective capacity to innovate for the better good of all. I am optimistic on this. We have survived in the past. Now it is not only to survive but to make a dent in our inputs to global development!

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention.

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II

Introducing Dr. Kenneth Kaunda

First President of the Republic of Zambia

Pro-Chancellor, Prof. Soodursun Jugessur’s introduction of H.E. Dr Kenneth David Kaunda, First President of the Republic of Zambia
Hon

Ladies and Gentlemen,
It’s very seldom that we have the unique privilege of honouring such a world renowned towering figure like Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda, in our midst. He has the rare mix of politics and spirituality that have inspired his multiple endeavours in his career. As such he has paid especial attention to values and ethics in whatever he has done.
He is now 82 years old, and was born in Northern Rhodesia, later called Zambia. His father was Reverend David Kaunda, a missionary and teacher.
He married Betty Banda, and like many people those days, had seven sons and two daughters.
After his formal education, Dr Kaunda, like his father, became a school teacher, and later a headmaster.
But the flame of social service very soon brought him to country politics. Those were the days when many countries in the British empire were claiming independence. When he was still 23 years old, he became Secretary of the Young Men’s Farming Association.
In 1950, at twenty six, he became the Founder and Secretary of Lubwa Branch of the African National Congress (ANC) political party representing African interests in Northern Rhodesia. Then he became the district organizer of ANC, and soon the Provincial Organizer, and Secretary General of ANC at national level .
At the age of 34, he was instrumental in the formation of Zambia African National Congress, ZANC, later known as United National Independence Party, UNIP. Soon he became its President.
From 1962-1964, he was Minister of Local Government and Social Welfare of Northern Rhodesia, and then Prime Minister of Northern Rhodesia
In 1991, he became the First President of the Republic of Zambia. (Re-elected in 1968, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988).
In this post he was elected five times, until he retired from politics in March 2000. Naturally he held different portfolios at different times, while cumulating the post of President.
· Like, Minister of Defence, 1964- 1970, 1973-1978
· Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1969-1970
· Minister of Trade, Industry, Mines, and State Participation (1969-1973)
· Chancellor of the University of Zambia, from formation, 1966, up to October 1991
· Chancellor, Copperbelt University, 1988 – 1991
· Chairperson of the state enterprises conglomerate Zambia Industrial and Mining Corporation, ZIMCO

At the international level, Dr. Kaunda has been:
· President of Pan-African freedom Movement for East, Central, and Southern Africa, PAFMESCA

· Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity, OAU,
· Chair of the Non Aligned Movement group of nations.
· Chair of the Commonwealth Summit and Group of Nations
· Chairperson of the Frontline States against racism and apartheid in Southern Africa
· Chairperson of SADC, Southern Africa Development Community group of nations
· Chairperson of COMESA (then PTA, Preferential Trade Area of Eastern and Southern Africa)
· March 2000, retires from active politics as UNIP President (1995-2000)
· Dr. Kenneth Kaunda has received eight Honorary Doctorates from prestigious Universities in different parts of the world.
He also has received nine international awards, including
· Order of the Queen of Sheba
· Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding
· Universal Peace Award ( World Association for Non-Governmental Organisations)
. Dr Kaunda is patron of many organisations and causes, local and
international.
· Founder: Kenneth Kaunda Peace Foundation, 1992
· Founder and Chairperson: Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation, 2000
Basic Needs
Dr Kaunda is respected for Zambia’s post-independent achievements in basic needs access. Many people were reached with basic facilities and services – including education, health, shelter, energy, transportation, food and farming, and other basic needs.

He has also been in the quest for peaceful transition to non-racial societies in Zambia, Africa, and other parts of the world. A believer in the significance of each person being “created in God’s image,” he has called for improved relationship amongst people from various backgrounds.
He has been strongly committed to using various fora and platforms; Dr Kaunda was a leading campaigner against institutional racism in Africa. He keenly used the Frontline States Movement, SADC, the OAU, Commonwealth nations grouping, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the United Nations, together with various organisations and groups, to contribute to the quest for Peace.
Dr Kaunda helped to negotiate the release of Nelson Mandela from prison, which led to South Africa’s first open and free elections and transition to popular rule in 1994.
Dr Kaunda has been a keen crusader in the fight against HIV/AIDS pandemic. He Chairs the Kenneth Kaunda Children of Africa Foundation, and supports many local and international organisations and activities dealing with HIV/AIDS.

Publications:
- Black Government, 1961
- Zambia Shall be Free, 1963
- Humanism Part I, and Humanism Part II, books linked to the philosophy of Zambian Humanism as espoused in Humanism in Zambia and a Guide to its Implementation, 1967
- A Humanist in Africa (with Colin Morris), 1966
- A Letter to My Children, 1977
- Kaunda on Violence, 1980

Ladies and Gentleman,
This is the towering humane personality whom we are honouring today in our university, and whom I have the distinguished honour to present to you. Indeed he will inspire many in our country, academics, professionals, politicians and social workers alike.
.
..After conferment,
I now invite H.E. Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda to deliver his speech.

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III

Sukhi Parivar

(Happy Family)

By

Introduction

 ‘Sukhi Parivar’ or the ‘Happy Family’ as the name suggests, is a program that aims to bring happiness and peace in family life, and hence the society in general. Today, there is widespread consensus that there is something seriously wrong in the society. After careful thought, it is seen that it has to do something with the proper functioning of the family.

Our lives start in our home, amidst our kiths and kins, and it is in this home that the seeds of peace and happiness are sown. After the seeds are sown, if the nurturing is faulty, unhappiness caused by mistrust, violence, injustice, greed, oppression, insecurity, alcoholism, drug addiction, disease, divorce, suicide, etc. take root. The home is the real nursery for bringing a happy society. Then only schools, socio-cultural organizations, religious bodies and the Government can have a supplementary and complementary positive role.

Where Wealth accumulates and Men decay

 We may have tons of money, big house with all amenities, bungalow and yacht by the sea-side, limousines and everything that brings material comfort, but if there is no peace and harmony in the home, life is like in a hell! On the other hand, we may be materially poor, earning just enough to live from hand to mouth, but if our wife and children are loving and caring and there is complete harmony and understanding between all the members, happiness is visible. True, happiness is a state of the mind, but this state is only possible if we are at peace within ourselves and we share our joys and sorrows as one family unit. Such peace and happiness then radiate from us and touch all members of the society, ending in global peace and happiness.

‘Ill fares the land where wealth accumulates and men decay’, so said Oliver Goldsmith years ago. Today we see this trend in so-called developed societies where there is every material comfort, but where there is greed, disharmony, constant violence both within and outside the home. Families are being dismantled with single parent homes, increasing divorces, young adolescents on sex rampage, adults not willing to take the risk of marriage and have children. Many believe they have only one life to live, and it is their life. Why should they bother about others? This disease is spreading like wild fire with the impact of modern communication, and if responsible people do not face it and make necessary changes to their living and thinking, the future of humanity is at risk. Many countries and societies already crave for a morsel of such happiness often lost in fairy tales!

The main foundation and objective

 It is in the minds of people that violence and wars are born. As per this UNESCO edict, it is in the minds of men that the seeds of peace and harmony have to be sown.

The program for ‘Sukhi Parivar’ or Happy Family aims at awakening all of us to our duties and responsibilities, starting in our own family units, and thus enable us to take necessary actions pro-actively. We are responsible for what we see around us, and if we play our roles properly, we can stem the tide of violence and make our home, our community, our country and the world a better place. We have to assume our primary responsibility.

Hence, the campaign has as objective to transform the society so that we can eliminate the evils that plague us in our world. Transformation has to start in the primary unit that is the family. And this involves the participation of all members of the family, from the oldest grandparents to the youngest children. Everyone is a stakeholder, as the happiness of every member is intricately linked with the happiness of the other, and eventually that of the society.

Passing the buck

 In modern times we tend to delegate and often relegate this task to schools, (pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary), and to socio-cultural, socio-religious, and socio-economic organizations, and when things fail, we blame the Government or the politicians of the day! Our schools and colleges have their own program, mostly centred on career orientation, with little value-education. Our socio-religious leaders are often concerned with increasing their followings and building ‘empires’ of their own. Our governments are busy promoting economic growth and ensuring living standards. And our politicians, perpetuating their powers. What are our family members doing? What we ignore is the fact that it is the family that has to play the crucial role; for it is there that everything takes root, and is nurtured.

With the advent of radio and television, computers and multimedia gadgets, coupled with a misguided formal educational system, the pressure of time is creating undue havocs on our mutual relationships at home. We have little time for the others. The family as a cohesive unit is being dismantled. People are becoming more self-centred, thinking that they have one life and it is theirs. Marriages are not lasting. Young adults are no more interested in marriages and having children, who are looked at as liabilities! And we take it as a matter of fact. What we forget is that it is up to us to shape our destiny, and take the necessary steps that can transform our lives. We are responsible for our own happiness or destruction! Blaming others for what we experience is just escapism. Modern civilization is our own creation!

The Central Idea

 The central idea about ‘Sukhi Parivar’ or Happy Family is that we must devote at least half an hour daily, in the evening, sitting together and communicating with one another in the family. This is like a time for communion with the family spirit. It includes a few minutes of common prayer, followed by sharing one another’s achievements and problems, joys and sorrows. This is the only way to strengthen bonds, and impart family values within. Communication, frank communication, polite communication is all that is missing! Devoting half an hour daily is not much to ask from responsible people, concerned with the welfare of the family members.

Transferring Values

 Where grandparents are alive and share the common roof, they can learn about the problems of their children, and offer whatever advice they can. They can tell stories of the lives of heroes from the epics to the grandchildren, and inculcate eternal values at an early age. They can transfer such values with love and understanding, so that when children grow up, they already have the seeds of these values to germinate and shape their lives. Absence of values, ethical, moral, and spiritual, in our educational system is the main cause of conflict and violence in society.

In nuclear families, parents, through such half hour sessions, can know more about their children’s lives at school, and cultivate mutual love, trust and friendship with the kids. They can take appropriate decisions on how to help the children in their homework and provide them with proper guidance. In the absence of grandparents, they can themselves inculcate values that will mark the lives of the children. As children grow into adolescence, trust and love imbibed at home are critical for their future development.

A Daily Event

 Such daily communion demands self-discipline on the part of all. Parents cannot advise their children not to smoke or take alcohol when they are themselves victim of these weaknesses. They cannot cheat or lie to the children for they will soon be caught. They cannot shout and ill-behave, as that will badly affect the young ones. They cannot fight between themselves, as husband and wife for that will be setting the wrong example. Their lives will be like an open book that their children will read and digest. Hence the concept of ‘Sukhi Parivar’ demands self-reform for it to succeed.

Some people claim that they do communicate at dinner table! This is not the type of communication we need. At dinner we have to concentrate on the food, relish it so that digestion is expedited, and exchange some pleasant small talks. On the other hand, during the half hour communion we aim at in the Sukhi Parivaar concept, this half hour before dinner is a sacred time when we really hope to open our hearts and share our joys and sorrows of the day, with the hope that such communication will bind us all the more.

The Program

 The program starts, in the spirit of Jaagran (Awakening), with public gatherings during which we awaken the interests of parents, social leaders, teachers and religious preachers, and make them aware of the campaign, in the presence of important personalities. It is directed by a specialised social worker, and followed in subsequent months by a series of seminars and workshops in different parts of the country, involving the stakeholders, like in schools, community centres, parent teacher associations, socio-cultural organizations. In the seminars and workshops different tools like group therapy, family counselling, audiovisuals, role-model presentations, pamphlets, dramas, etc. are used for changing the way we think and act. Changing mind-sets is not easy but not impossible! One has to be convinced of the idea and follow it up against all odds.

Conclusion

 Today we see deterioration of family values, followed by the series of crimes, family violence, suicides, alcoholism, drug abuse and what not in the society. Tomorrow it will knock at our own doors, unless it has already done so, and we have to act now. The more we delay, the more the cancer will devour our lives. It is the sacred duty of each of us to take up the challenge and launch the ‘Sukhi Parivar’ Happy Family campaign in our own circles.

At the global level, greed and excessive consumerism are leading to social and ethnic inequities, and the crave for power and pelf is corrupting minds. These in turn are leading to local and regional conflicts that often use religion as a banner. True religion is one in which the spirit of love and sharing is the guiding principle. And this principle is inherent in the concept of the Sukhi Parivar and its strategy for family and social reform. Once every family reaches a state of peace and harmony in the spirit of sharing and loving one another, the society will be different. Only dialogue and open heart communication will open the lock to this ideal. The work starts in the home of each and everyone of us!

‘We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.’

Mother Theresa

* Prof. Soodursun Jugessur is a scientist and technologist. He is presently the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the University of Mauritius, and also Chairman of the Mauritius Research Council. Contact: sjugessur@gmail.com

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IV

Sustainable Development , A New Paradigm

By

Prof. S.Jugessur

Sustainable development requires that human beings should not deplete the natural resources like land, water, fossil fuels, minerals, flora and fauna, and others, as these are limited. Some of the flora and fauna can be reproduced in time so that they do not disappear for good, but the others cannot. We should consume only that much as can enable us to be healthy and live in a healthy environment, while preserving enough for future generations. If future generations do not have adequate resources to survive on, it will lead to the extinction of the human race in the same way as we are daily witnessing the extinction of so many natural species of flora and fauna on our planet.

Land and water resources, including those in the sea, are being subjected to heavy pressure because of the increase in human consumption patterns. Population growths have increased the demand for adequate food and energy resources. Present global population of over six billion will, within a few generations double, unless adequate measures are adopted. Hence demand for natural resources will grow exponentially.

Sustainability can only be achieved if people change their modes of living, change mindsets, and adopt a new paradigm for development.

The problem of technologies

Human civilization has been marked by adoption of certain technologies. The level and appropriateness of these technologies has allowed us to sustain ourselves, or to provoke disasters on the environment. New farming technologies using the Green Revolution techniques, greater canal and overhead irrigation, more chemical fertilizers, nuclear irradiation and genetic engineering, have been used. But most of these have been adopted in large-scale production farms, while the small farmer has been marginalized. It is a fact that green revolution has kept famine away in many countries for a while. Meanwhile forests have been cleared for bigger and bigger farms. The forestry cover is disappearing at the rate of 12.5 million hectares per year to cater for such large-scale farms globally. But for Europe where the forestry cover has increased within a decade from 981 million to 1001 million hectares, forest area in all other continents has decreased drastically. We know what negative repercussions this has on climatic changes.

The above technologies, applied without much foresight, have led to greater environmental pollution, and even the Green revolution is now being questioned, as it has led to slow desertification. Environmental pollution is leading to other catastrophes like global warming, increased frequency of typhoons, cyclones, tsunamis, and other calamities that man cannot control. We now realize that we need more appropriate technologies using organic fertilizers, drip irrigation, smaller but better managed farms. On one side we have to feed the growing population, and on the other, we have to avoid environmental degradation due to inappropriate technologies.

On the energy front, we still rely to the tune of 75% on non-renewable fossil fuels like mineral oil, gas, and carbon, with the consequences on our economy and our environment that we are aware of. CO2 emission presently is of the order of 100 million tons per year! The earlier we adopt new and renewable forms of energy from the sun, wind, waves, and renewable biomass, the better it will be for our present and future generations. These will also create new employment opportunities for the people.

What is the way out?

Mahatma Gandhi’s vision

Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of peace and appropriate development, said: ‘There is enough for everybody’s need, but not enough for everybody’s greed.’ This statement is very significant, is replete with foresight, and should be the real determining pointer in humanity’s efforts to ensure sustainable development.

Present day consumption patterns are often dictated by what we see in the media. The radio, TV and the internet have brought us much closer, and we want to emulate the high lifestyles of the west, especially what we see in North America. Their consumerism and their indiscriminate marketing strategies tempt the developing world consumer to do the same. By emulating them we are sure to destroy our planet. In fact if we want to consume like them, we will need the resources of five more planets like ours! And this is where we have the real problem, and the urgent need for changing our concept of development and ensure sustainability.

Small is beautiful

 Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of multiple small and medium sized manufacturing enterprises based on the need for homegrown appropriate technologies led another western thinker called Ernst Friedrich Schumacher to come up with his concept of ‘Small is Beautiful’. A respected economist who worked with J.M.Keynes and J.K.Galbraith, Schumacher opposed consumerism and the move towards large scale manufacturing dictated by profit maximization and economies of scale. He promoted decentralized smaller units and environmentally friendly technologies, and is in fact the first hero of the environmental movement and the concept of sustainability.

His words spoken a generation back, are still very relevant to our pattern of development. I quote:’ Can such a system conceivably deal with the problems we are now having to face? The answer is self-evident: greed and envy demand continuous and limitless economic growth of a material kind, without proper regard for conservation, and this type of growth cannot possibly fit into a finite environment.’

Robotics and automation, spurred by the spirit of competition and greater profitability are putting many people off their jobs, with consequent social problems of family destruction, violence, drugs, aids, and what not.

What alternative system?

The suggestion is to distinguish between ‘standard of living’ and ‘quality of life’. While western development models stressing on productivity and economic growth have led to greater standard of living, it is being increasing realized that the quality of life is deteriorating. Not only is the environment becoming unhealthy, the peace and harmony of the people are deteriorating with increased family violence, suicides, drug abuse, crimes, terrorist attacks, and what not. The Gross Domestic Product per Capita index, while increasing, is impinging on the Quality of Life index, and people are now questioning whether we should not adopt Gandhi’s and Schumacher’s patterns of development. I personally think we should, and the earlier we do it, the better for our generation and for future generations. Rapid economic growth scenarios based on production techniques relying on economies of scale and profit maximization have to become a thing of the past.

Man’s appetite for luxury can never be satisfied! We need to find contentment with less material benefits, and stress more on higher quality of life with healthy surroundings, birds and butterflies flying around, flowers blooming, green forests and rainbows decking our land, children laughing and playing, and a happy family that can live in greater peace and harmony. The money we have in our pocket is less important than the number of friends we have around us!

Young people should develop the spirit of ‘plain living and high thinking’ and find joy in what they do. They have to cry out for ensuring that present policies and programs do not jeopardize sustainable development, and keep enough for future generations.

Another appropriate quotation from Schumacher goes as follows: ‘Ever bigger machines, entailing ever bigger concentrations of economic power and exerting ever greater violence against the environment, do not represent progress; they are a denial of wisdom. Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology towards the organic, the gentle, the non-violent, the elegant and beautiful.’

And it is this wisdom that we need on top of acquired knowledge.

S.J/22/05/07

V

Science and Technology, A New Development Paradigm

Prof. Soodursun Jugessur, GOSK

Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture
RGSC, 1st Dec. 2008

I feel honoured to be invited to deliver this second Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture, and am thankful to the organizers for having given me this opportunity to honour a youthful leader in India, who had a unique vision for the scientific and technological development of his country.

My topic today is on the need for a new paradigm for global development in the wake of multiple crises facing us at present. The signs had been there for decades, but the spirit of greed underlying the concept of accelerated economic growth based on maximization of profits, and ignoring the fundamental animal instinct in human beings have withheld a change in the direction of this development. I will dwell on this aspect later.

Our main agenda these days is the desire to embark on a sustainable development so that we improve the standard and quality of life of the peoples, while ensuring that we do not destroy the environment and pass on worthy livelihood for the future generations.

Three main parameters dictate our future orientation as a species on this planet. These are the issues of growing population, the type of development we envisage, and the type of environment we want to live in and leave as legacy to future generations.

The population of this planet, presently over six billion, is growing to seven to eight billion in the next thirty years, that is within the life time of most of us here. Out of this, we have nearly eighty percent living in developing and underdeveloped countries that will on their own, experience over two to three billion growth in this period. Already we have a situation in which 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity, and 1.2 billion live below the poverty line with less than $ 2. a day, unable to meet their basic need.
Out of this population, more than 60 % will live in cities and mega cities, with the pressure on infrastructure and basic amenities that this will bring about. The global resources are limited, but the desire of people to improve their living conditions, and simply to have a basic better livelihood is natural.

That is why it is imperative for the present generation to reflect on the type of development it wants to have, and the type of environment it wants to leave for future generations. Future generations should not blame us for what we have done as selfish human beings.

Science and Technology on their own are ineffective. It is the economic, social and political visions that dictate their development and use. Unless we have sound economic, social and political orientations, we are likely to fall in a trap of inappropriate development, and soon destroy ourselves, and our planet. We need changes in our economic and social policies and a new vision for political development at global level.

There is no doubt that science and technology have changed our lives, with the multiple benefits that have accrued over the ages. First and foremost, our life expectancy has increased with better education, health care facilities, adequate food through better agricultural output, and overall higher standard of living. Most of all, science and technology have helped to reduce the drudgery of hard physical labour, and machines have changed our lives. Life has become easier on the whole.

Developments in the communications sector have brought human beings closer together with faster travel, better telecommunications, and the world has shrunk as a global village. The advent of satellite communication, mobile phones, internet, video and teleconferences has been a boon to mankind. Like any other technology it is up to us to make rational use of them for the preservation of human civilization. This has strengthened and enlarged man’s horizons, and we are now envisaging, through space travel, migrations to other planets where new developments are possible. We have acquired greater mastery over the forces of nature, and are able to meet the needs of an ever-growing population.

Negative aspects of Science and Technology

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution two and a half centuries ago, a new culture of consumerism has developed, with ruthless exploitation of the limited resources of the world. Respect for nature has diminished, with the belief that all that exists on this globe is for human consumption! Existentialism as a philosophy has become rampant in the developed world. People believe in one life that has to be lived to the full, irrespective of what happens to others and other forms of life. There is little if any, respect for other forms of life on the planet.

People are not content with simple life styles, and the spirit of greed has caught up. Accumulation of material properties and enjoyment of the same is the order of the day. Forget about plain living and high thinking!

Besides wars, global physical and natural environment are being destroyed. The environment appears to be the main victim of the type of science and technology we have pursued. With the unbridled consumption patterns being promoted, global warming has resulted and unheard of catastrophes are becoming more and more common. The melting of the North pole ice cap has led to a rise in sea water levels globally. It is estimated that by 2050, fifteen major cities across the globe will be under water. London, New York, Bangkok, Shanghai and many others will not be spared. Can we imagine the havoc this will create, the lives that will be lost, and the trillions of dollars that will have to be spent to displace tens of millions of people to higher places and provide them with basic amenities?

Thousands of islands will be lost for ever in different parts of the world! People living in those islands will either disappear or have to be moved to safer places. Fifteen to twenty percent of Bangladesh now lies within one metre of sea level, and will be under water. 13 to 30 million people will be affected. Pacific islands like Tuvalu are already being evacuated. Maldives, 1,200 islands will disappear from the map! In Indonesia 17,500 islands are presently threatened.

Large rain forests in Brazil and other places can turn into savannas. Rising temperature and shifting rainfall patterns can affect major staple crops like maize and sorghum. Biodiversity, both on land and in the sea,                              is being fast decimated. Over the last ten years over 30% of this biodiversity has disappeared. Future generations will never see and admire certain plants, animals, butterflies, birds, fish, tortoise, and so many other species.

We are releasing millions of tons of toxic gasses in the atmosphere, gasses like CO2, SO2, CH4, N2O, ozone depleting chloroflurocarbons, and these, besides polluting the environment, are adding to the greenhouse effect and accelerating the global warming. Here the major culprit is the consumption of fossil fuels, and an ever-growing need for them. Bigger cars, bigger airplanes, bigger factories, bigger houses, and the craze for material gains have become part of our symbol of civilization. The lifestyles we are emulating will be the poison that will destroy us.

Albert Gore who shared the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, while addressing the Nobel function, said: ‘ Today, we dumped another 70 million tons of global-warming pollution into the thin shell of atmosphere surrounding our planet, as if it were an open sewer. And tomorrow, we will dump a slightly larger amount, with the cumulative concentrations now trapping more and more heat from the sun. As a result, the earth has a fever. And the fever is rising.’   

Globally cyclones, hurricanes, floods, landslides, droughts, desertification are increasing in intensity. More and more lives are being lost, but we still wish to mimic the same consumerist development path. This is leading to heavy discontent in some parts of the world struggling to survive, and violence in its multiple forms is increasing. Human conflict and growing disharmony are prevalent, leading to the rise of guerilla warfare, terrorist groups, and open warfare. Just to preserve our acquired privileges, we engage in the production of more and more terrible weapons of mass destruction!

This global warming has also led to the birth of new strains of diseases, bacteria and viruses. More money is going into research and development to find new cures for these diseases, and our health budgets are always strained. The rich have ailments different from the poor. Obesity and diabetes with cancer in one region strike at the face of starvation caused anemia and death in other parts of the world. 

And the culprit is global warming due to man’s consumerism and greed! If we continue along the beaten track, we will need five more planets like our blue-green earth to enable us to survive, and this is nigh impossible now and within the next few generations.

What solutions? The Way Ahead.

The grim picture of the world as described above can be changed. Man’s capacity to adapt to new situations is enormous! And there is no room for despair! There is need for a new global development paradigm based on the wisdom of seers through the ages, supported with government and private sector policies and strategies that can enable us to take a new turn on the road to sustainable development.

One thing is certain now. Old economic theories based on Adam Smith’s credo of the rule of the market dictated by demand and supply has failed miserably! The world is witnessing not only global climate spurred devastating catastrophes and ever-increasing social strife, but also a financial crisis, unforeseen by most, that has led to a global recession with increase in suffering of the billions in poor countries. While the rich will have to straiten their belts, others will simply disappear from the scene.

Visionaries of a new type of development

After the industrial revolution with its stress on production based on economies of scale and profit maximization, a new breed of economists spurred by humanism came up. John Galbraith in the 1950s and Ernst Frederic Schumacher in the 1970’s were both influenced by Gandhian concept of new patterns of decentralized production with possibilities of increased job creation and minimal energy consumption.

Galbraith realized that human nature is such that greed is inherent when maximization of profits becomes the objective.   The vision of a trikle down effect has failed. The hope that individuals and companies will share the profits for the benefit of the poor in the developing world is remote, for over the years some have enriched themselves beyond measure at the detriment of the needy. In order to maintain their supremacy, they are able to influence policy makers and ensure that power stays in the hands of the chosen few.

The concept of profit maximization has to be reviewed. Just we have limits to economic growth within a context of sustainability, there is need to develop a new concept of limits to profits. Through legislations, profits should be allowed only up to certain levels to be decided by mutual consultation, and any excess generated should be shared with the less fortunate ones in other countries or in the same countries. The spirit of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has to be promoted within enterprises. It has been observed in some countries that where the firms take this seriously, there is much more commitment by workers who feel that their employers are considerate to the family and social needs. Harmony prevails and the company’s output increases. It is necessary to undertake studies on the CSR practice of companies, and to publish the results so that improvements can occur. Otherwise only lip-service will be the norm. 

Workers should be empowered to become shareholders of companies so that they feel as part of a big family enterprise. This is the case at the BMW factory in Germany where workers are prepared to work overtime at no extra pay in order to meet company supply commitments and time schedules. When other companies have been forced to lay off workers because of financial crisis, there workers accepted to take home a reduced pay-packet and maintain their jobs, as they feel, as shareholders, a part of the company.
It is revolting to note that during this period of global financial crisis, car-companies in USA have been laying off workers by the hundreds of thousands. At the same time the top executives of these companies have been enjoying fat salaries, and have been asking the government to bail their company out by providing billions of dollars. Very recently, in order to influence senators in US Congress adopt a bail package for them, many of them traveled by their private jet airplanes to reach Washington! Is there any sign of sustainable development in such context? Or the spirit of corporate social responsibility?

Schumacher, on the other hand, realized the harm that economies of scale were inflicting over the environment, and was in fact, one of the earliest to draw the attention of the world towards the need for sustainable development. Besides polluting the environment, carbon, natural gasses, and mineral oils are limited in quantity, and not renewable.

In his book, ‘Small is Beautiful; Economics as if People Mattered.’, he questioned prevalent economic theories, and wrote:
‘Can such a system conceivably deal with the problems we are now having to face? The answer is self-evident: greed and envy demand continuous and limitless economic growth of a material kind, without proper regard for conservation, and this type of growth cannot possibly fit into a finite environment. We must therefore study the essential nature of the private enterprise system and the possibilities of evolving an alternative system which might fit the new situation….

Ever bigger machines, entailing ever bigger concentrations of economic power and exerting ever greater violence against the environment, do not represent progress; they are a denial of wisdom. Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology towards the organic, the gentle, the non-violent, the elegant and beautiful.’

The Pope Benedict XVI, addressing a congregation of thinkers in 1985, while reflecting on the supremacy of the market as proclaimed by Adam Smith who said that the rule of supply and demand is primordial, said: ‘The market is incompatible with ethics because voluntary ‘moral’ actions contradict market rules and drive the moralizing entrepreneur out of the game.’

Gross Domestic Welfare

National development has been measured in terms of Gross Domestic Product per Capita, and the standard of living based on that. It has been noted that this is not a fair measure of development, since the quality of life is not the same as the standard of life. A new concept of Gross Domestic Welfare (GDW), taking into consideration other factors like environment and peace, family spirit and solidarity, is a more appropriate one, and economists are fast developing this new global index. USA and Europe are the continents with the highest standard of living, and they are the ones that are contributing most to environmental degradation and lowering of the quality of life. Their consumption patterns are unsustainable, and if China and India join the band-wagon, following similar growth patterns based on heavy consumption of non-renewable fuels, the end of the world will not be so far!

The Problem of Energy: New and Renewable Sources of Energy (NRSE) V/S Fossil Fuels.

The most important factor affecting human development is the amount of energy we consume per capita, and its origin. We need to reduce this amount, and start with improving energy efficiency in all systems. In parallel, we need to move fast to the development and use of new and renewable sources of energy, while eliminating as fast as possible, the use of fossil fuels.
 
Eighty percent of global energy consumed depends on coal, mineral oil, and natural gas. And these are non-renewable and fast depleting. On the other hand there are plenty of renewable sources of energy like solar, hydro, wind, wave, biomass and geothermal. Globally this accounts for only four percent, except for Mauritius where, because of use of sugar cane ‘bagasse’, this amounts to nearly twenty percent.

The normal energy consumed per person for a healthy life is in the range of 2000-3000 kilocalories per day. In the United States this is 230,000 kilocalories per day, or a hundred times as much. In other words a US citizen is gobbling the energy of hundred normal persons. In Europe it is fifty times as much. And this consumption pattern cannot be sustained! In the last thirty years the energy consumed worldwide has doubled, and the trend will continue unless we change lifestyles.

The world is waking up to the realization that the development and use of new and renewable sources of energy is essential for survival. But it is not easy to change things overnight. Many countries are paying lip service to the development of NRSE, especially those that have appreciable reserves of fossil fuels. And the sad story is that many countries are moving to the use of nuclear energy, building new nuclear plants to ensure sustained energy supply, not realizing that even nuclear fuel (Uranium, plutonium..) is non-renewable, and that there is so far no viable solution to take care of the radioactive waste products of nuclear plants. Some are also building many more coal-fired plants, knowing very well that coal is heavily polluting, and technologies available to contain the flux gasses are still inefficient. They produce twice the amount of CO2 per unit of energy obtained. And still China is building one coal-fired plant every seven to ten days!

Developing countries are at an advantage by tapping on more efficient energy systems. The application of passive heating and cooling for buildings offers the possibility of having zero-net consumption! Buildings with less energy for lighting, heating in winter and cooling in summer, are possible, and architectural designs, enforced by legislation, should aim at this. Fluorescent bulbs, wind power, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave and biomass are the options for the future.

Governments should urgently adopt policies to enable the development and use of NRSE, giving suitable incentives to the producers and users.

Appropriate Technologies

A host of appropriate technologies are available and need to be enforced through legislations globally. Rather than rely of heavy industries gobbling massive amounts of energy, smaller units using appropriate technologies are preferable. These technologies are environment-friendly, easy to maintain, and most often less costly. We can actually leapfrog in terms of this development path towards sustainability, using more efficient systems.

In the area of manufacturing, stress can be laid on the adoption of the concept of 3 R’s, Reuse, Reduce and Recycle in order to have zero waste. This concept can in fact be extended to all production and consumption activities, anywhere. It has to start from the home where everybody is educated to understand sustainability, and to make optimal use of energy.

We have to reduce the environmental footprint in all activities by educating the public, starting with the schools and colleges. It is essential to understand that the future can only be ensured through rational and optimal use of available resources. Recycling of wastes should start at home. In developed countries, as soon as some minor fault appears in any gadget, the tendency is to throw it in the bin and get a new one! Even when something is still usable, in order to save on labor, or taking the trouble to have it transported, it is simply thrown outside. Those who have been to student dormitories in the west, especially in USA and Canada, are shocked to see so many usable equipment, furniture, gadgets, just thrown on the pavements or near the dustbins. These include cars, refrigerators, washing machines, complete drawing room furniture, beds, kitchen utensils….!  This is the spirit of consumerism!

Governments should aim at reducing the emission of CO2 by 2% every year, through legislation, incentives to manufacturers and consumers.

Traffic congestion causes significant waste of energy. People have to be encouraged to use the car less, and to use public transport systems. There should be separate lanes for bicycles and motorbikes, and the government should encourage the public to utilize such less polluting vehicles. There should be fewer high cylinder capacity cars on the road, and battery operated electric cars, bikes, charged by solar and wind energy should be promoted.

Airplane travels should be discouraged for attending meetings and conferences. Video-conferencing and teleconferences should be encouraged. Developments in these areas are such that investments in the provision of such facilities are soon recovered, and a healthier climate is promoted. Travels abroad should be allowed only exceptionally. It is likely that the tourism industry will suffer, but alternative ways of spending holidays can be developed to meet the needs of the people.

To achieve the above, a change in mindset is necessary. It has to start with people at the top giving the right example to others.

Conclusion

In the face of this present global financial crisis coupled with the man-engendered global warming causing untold havocs to nations over the globe, it is opportune to press for a new mind set. Humanity’s future depends on the speed and the extent to which a radical change can be effected in our conventional development paradigms. A new path for science and technology, along with economic and social policies and practices is necessary. We live on this sick planet, having a fever that is growing. We need to save it in order to save ourselves and generations to come.

Our needs are to be limited through elimination of greed, with stress on meeting the basic needs of populations. After all, what are our basic needs? For a country as Mauritius, the following quotation can be quite appropriate:

‘What do we need to live as a happy nation in an island blessed with matchless beauty, warm sunshine and multi-coloured rainbows, emerald green sea and wonderful casuarinas decked white beaches? Do we need concrete jungles with multi-storeyed structures barring our horizons, hiding the beautiful mountain profiles in the background, mountains that remind us of our cultural identity? Do we need five-lane divided motorways where the eternal signs of speed limit keep forcing us to have our foot on the brakes of powerful limousines?  Do we need traffic jams and increased blood pressure in our veins, with the eternal fear of being sacked by our employers hungry for productivity gains? Do we need a world record in the magnitude of non-communicable diseases like diabetes and blood pressure, as is the case at present?  Or do we need a more relaxed lifestyle with lesser earnings but with conscientious devotion to our duties, with job security and above all, more family love and social harmony? It is up to all of us to decide, and especially up to our policy makers and rulers!’