Target Audience
Applicants pursuing postgraduate study or a PhD, early-career researchers, and industry professionals in hydrology, water resources, climate change, atmospheric sciences, renewable energy and allied fields, from Indian institutes, colleges and universities.

The Planetary Boundaries (PB) Framework

Introduced in 2009, the PB framework identifies nine interconnected Earth-system processes that regulate the stability and resilience of our planet. Each boundary defines a safe operating space for humanity. Crossing a boundary does not mean immediate collapse, but indicates increasing risk of large-scale or irreversible change.

 According to the Planetary Health Check 2025, seven of the nine boundaries have been exceeded, highlighting the need for closer monitoring and action at national and regional scales.

 The workshop centres on Climate Change, Freshwater Change, Biogeochemical Flows, and Novel Entities, while taking a broader perspective on their interactions with the wider Planetary Boundaries framework. These are linked through water, with climate influencing the hydrological cycle and water flows transporting nutrients and contaminants. All four have also been assessed as beyond their safe operating space, making them particularly relevant for India’s scientific research and policy priorities. 

Know more on Planetary Health Check: https://www.planetaryhealthcheck.org/ 

Objectives

1. Review the global state of science for Planetary Boundaries and critically assess their relevance to India and South Asia.

2. Identify India-relevant indicators, control variables, spatial units, baselines and uncertainty ranges, while documenting explicitly where direct national translation is not scientifically justified.

3. Compare global model-based assessments, particularly the ISIMIP-based freshwater assessment, with Indian observations, national datasets, regional models and field evidence, and characterize where and why they diverge.

4. Map cross-boundary interactions, shared drivers and potential hotspots across river basins, agricultural regions, mountain systems, cities, and industrial corridors.

5. Produce an agreed perspective paper, evidence and data inventory, an expert map, a writing team, and a delivery timeline.

6. Formulate a small number of fundable interdisciplinary research challenges and establish a South Asia Planetary Boundaries working group.

Why India ?

 India presents a critical opportunity for PB research. It has a large population, high pressure on freshwater and nutrient resources, and rapidly expanding industrial activity, while still facing significant development needs.

 This raises a key question: 

How can global Planetary Boundaries be meaningfully assessed at the India and South Asia scale ?

 While the framework establishes global limits, applying it regionally requires decisions on indicators, control variables, spatial scales, and appropriate regional thresholds. India has some methodological precedents to build on, but a systematic, multi-boundary assessment supported by independent observations remains an important research gap.

 The timing is particularly promising. The Planetary Health Check provides an updated global baseline, while datasets from IMD, CWC, CGWB, ISRO/Bhuvan, CPCB, and ISIMIP offer opportunities to examine and validate planetary-boundary indicators across India.

 This workshop brings together researchers to explore how PBs can be translated from a global framework into meaningful, evidence-based assessments for India and South Asia.