Focus on Gender, Innovation & Sustainability: Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week

The Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week (SINMW), which is now in its 14th edition, is an annual event organised by the Embassy of Sweden, the Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai and other Team Sweden actors including Swedish companies operating in India. Though the actual week is from December 6-10, 2021, events under the Nobel umbrella have started in November and will go on till Dec 15.

It is the second year where the event takes place virtually due to the pandemic.

Ambassador Klas Molin said, We are happy to present the 14th edition of the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week, one of the Embassy’s true flagship events. It celebrates Alfred Nobel and his profound legacy in the fields of science, research, innovation and the arts. Here in India, it is a reminder of the long-term commitment of Sweden and Swedish companies, our sponsors.

“Our countries have very strong bilateral ties in so many sectors, with a strong focus on innovation and sustainability, which along with gender equality are the underlying themes of this year’s Nobel Memorial Week. With COVID protocols in mind we have have tried to curate a smaller number of safe events for this year. Looking ahead to 2022, we hope to come back with at least a hybrid Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week!”, Molin said.

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The highlights of the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week 2021 (SINMW2021) are:

She STEM: Following the astounding success of its launch last year, She STEM is back in a slightly new avatar for the Instagram generation! She STEM is a joint initiative between the Embassy of Sweden in India and the Atal Innovation Mission which emphasises the importance of STEM education for young girls and women. For 2021, She STEM was launched with an Insta reels challenge for 13-17-year-old students who were invited to apply their creative side to scientific solutions for a contest which asks them to ‘Fast forward to 2040’. Students were expected to come up with Insta reels on how to make this world a better place to live as a STEM (Science. Technology. Engineering. Mathematics) leader.

A jury will pick the winners. The prize distribution takes place along with a panel discussion amongst leading female voices on leading STEM & sustainability on Dec 6 at 14:30.

The online event is open to all. Please register on https://t.co/hpJo32bDEH

MoU/LoI with IIT Delhi, IIT Madras & IIT Bombay

1. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and Business Sweden-The Swedish Trade and Invest Council have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in the field of Clean Air and Green Energy.
   The MoU was signed by V Ramgopal Rao, director, IIT Delhi, and Cecilia Oskarsson, Trade Commissioner of Sweden to India, and aims to identify mutual collaboration opportunities, introduce innovative solutions to the industry and academia, considering continuity of India Sweden Innovations Accelerator Programme and Sustainability by Sweden Showroom and Platform in India.
   The aim is also to promote university-level collaboration by connecting IIT Delhi with leading research universities and institutes in Sweden especially under upcoming research and Innovation calls between India and Sweden. The MoU entails expertise exchange between India and Sweden through discussion forums and faculty exchanges.
2. IIT Madras and IIT-Bombay
   In an endeavour to co-create innovative and sustainable clean water solutions, Business Sweden India and Swedish Energy Agency also signed a Letter of Intent with Indian Institute of Technology – Madras (IIT Madras) and International Centre for Clean Water (ICCW).

Similarly, another LoI will be signed next week with Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) for collaboration in the area of smart grids and e-mobility. With these agreements, these institutes have academic and research partner to the Sustainability by Sweden ecosystem and showroom in India, which is a joint initiative of Swedish Energy Agency and Team Sweden.

These collaborations are important milestones towards setting up a strong ecosystem of Swedish and Indian entities that will continuously work towards building a climate-neutral future for both countries

Mahindra Group

Sustainability is no longer about doing less harm, it’s about doing more good. On behlf of the Sustainability by Sweden ecosystem, Business Sweden will sign a LoI with the leading Indian conglomerate Mahindra Group and will onboard them an Industry partner.

Nobel Prize Teacher Summit

As part of the Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week 2021, the Consulate General of Sweden, Mumbai will be organizing a ‘Nobel Prize Teacher Summit’ on December 7, 2021 in association with a local partner Idobro Impact Solutions. The ‘Nobel Prize Teacher Summit’ is an international teacher conference by the Nobel Prize Museum supported by Swedish Institute. The theme of the summit this year is ‘In the Flood of Facts’ to provide Teachers with teaching strategies to navigate towards knowledge between scientific facts, personal values and conspiracy theories. The Nobel Teachers material will be disseminated physically and digitally with attending teachers. Teachers are expected to use this material in their classrooms to spread awareness about the Nobel prize, summit and the purpose of the theme among children. Thus, starting conversations on ground about disinformation and sharing ways to curb it before it ends up harming communities.

Innovation Lecture Series on Sustainable Development Goals

The Sweden Alumni Network India, Bengaluru Chapter – in association with a local partner Acharya Institute – is organising the Innovation Lecture Series on the side-lines of SINMW2021.

SANI (Sweden Alumni Network India) Awards Night

The Swedish Institute Alumni Network includes more than 15,000 talented individuals from over 140 countries. These are people that have studied or done research at a Swedish university, have participated in any of the Swedish Institute’s leadership programmes or taken part in Sida’s (Swedish Development Cooperation) International Training programmes. This year Sweden Alumni Network India (all its chapters in Bengaluru, Kerala, Maharashtra and Goa, New Delhi, Mumbai and Tamil Nadu) are awarded the title Alumni Network of the year 2021.

The reason for the Award is encapsulated in the motivation, which cites, ‘The Sweden Alumni Network India and its six chapters actively contributes to a fair and sustainable global development by arranging alumni activities – spread out geographically – strategically positioning the SDG’s from several different angles and broader perspectives. The alumni activities not only engage SI and Sweden alumni, but also local authorities, companies, school children and the general public highlighting the importance of how to reach our common goals. Collaboration, co-creation, reciprocity, and fellowship characterize the joint efforts by the network’s board.’

SINMW2022 hopes to be back in a physical or hybrid even in 2022.

The Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week 2021

The Sweden India Nobel Memorial Week is organized by the Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi, Consulate General of Sweden in Mumbai along with leading Swedish companies in India. Instituted in memory of Swedish innovator, entrepreneur and philanthropist Alfred Nobel it celebrates science, innovations, entrepreneurship and creativity.