The Center for Environment (CE) is a non-profit and non-government organization committed to research, policy formulation and implementation in the field of environment in its broadest sense. In order to study the key linkages between environment and human well-being in a comprehensive manner, the Center focuses on a number of important interrelated issues of encompassing significance. The vision of the CE is to raise awareness to and offer quality advocacy about environmental issues in both private and public spheres in Bangladesh. To translate its vision into reality, the CE carries out and sponsors original research, field-level scientific surveys, conferences and seminars involving policy makers, members of the public and national and international organizations.

Major Research areas and activities at CE

Sustainability Studies

One of the major areas of research by CE involves the issues of environmental sustainability. The following areas would be of particular interest: sustainable transport; sustainable development governance; sustainable growth of investment, industrialization and trade; sustainable development of energy sector; and sustainable agriculture.

Global Environmental Governance and Green Diplomacy

The CE attempts at identifying key contemporary issues on environment in the national, regional as well as global level and study the way different stakeholders in Bangladesh are performing in the light of international consensus/multilateral agreements on issues relating to environment. In this context, the CE will conduct research and provide the government informed advice on how Bangladesh can contribute to and profit from the international legal regime on environmental issues. 

Ecology and public health 

One of the important areas of activities of the CE relates to issue of public health and environment at both workplace and in wider public domain. In many work places in Bangladesh emissions and releases of wastes seem to affect employees but these also affect the locality and its inhabitants in which a particular industry is located. The CE undertakes in-depth study on these problems and find ways to overcome them. At the same time, the CE undertakes informed research on the ecological regime and its linkages to varieties of water-born diseases.

 Regional Focus

The CE takes partial exception to the current state-centric discourse of sustainable development by giving due concentration on the ecological regime of eastern South Asia which informs major environmental issues facing Bangladesh as well as other countries of the region. CE believes that many of the problems affecting human well-being in South Asia need an eco-humanistic rather than nationalist approach. For instance, the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas affects the people of the entire northeastern South Asia. In this context, the CE will explore ways to develop extra-state cooperation in environmental issues at both popular and governmental levels in order to ease the ecologically-induced problems of heath and sustainable development in Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna watersheds covering the state of West Bengal and Assam of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

Environment and Social Capital

The CE believes that a substantial rekindling and appreciation of social capital, which includes indigenous network of social communication, trust, value system, heritage of mutual bondage and democratic norm, can immensely help in putting together the inner strength of a nation. The CE will, therefore, foster the growth of social capital in order to raising awareness and promote action about the environment as a common asset for sustainable livelihood and living. While appreciating and promoting social capital in Bangladeshi society, the CE will also identify the ‘social barriers’, eg corruption and violence, and attempt at overcoming them as far as the question of achieving environmental sustainability is concerned.

Political Ecology

The CE will study the trends and impact of environmental movement and activities in Bangladesh in particular and the world in general. Understanding the trends and trajectories of environmental movement is important because a healthy civic activism can substantially inform state’s action to a greater good for society as far an environment is concerned. While studying the nature and trends of environmental activism, the CE also critically explores the weaknesses and gaps in these movements and attempts and overcoming them.

Environmental Education

The CE believes that education is integral to raising awareness about environmental problems and ways to overcome them. In pedagogic context, the CE takes initiative to develop curricular materials relating to environment for tertiary, secondary as well as graduate levels. At the civil society and popular levels, the Center attempts to reach a wider audience by publishing books, journals and magazines of varied interest relating to environment. The name of the publishing house of the CE is Prokiti Path.

Historical Perspective

To adequately understand the patterns of current environmental problems in Bangladesh, the CE takes a closer look at these problems from a historical perspective. While the Center will study environmental changes of the region, including Eastern Himalayas ecological regime, from antiquity, its particular focus will be from the British colonial period since when commercialization of agriculture and production of cash crop started remarkably and which initiated enormous change in the environmental regime of the region.  Keeping in mind the changes particularly over the last three hundred years, the Center will identify the continuity and change in the indigenous ecological regime of Bangladesh.

Projects Completed

STIFPP-2 (Secondary Towns Integrated Flood Protection Project) – We had successfully completed survey and analysis of 8 municipal towns across Bangladesh. The project was awarded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) through Waste Concern – a Development NGO. working in this sector.

Plastic Re-cycling Survey for Greater Dhaka awarded through Waste Concern as well. Under this survey, we (IITM) are exploring the total supply chain of plastic sector (including imported, re-cycled, soiled and unsoiled plastic).

We had completed a comprehensive survey of Lead Acid Battery Recycling in Bangladesh. The survey was assigned by Waste Concern - a Non-profit organization in Bangladesh. The survey was part of a detailed study initiated by the Sustainable Environmental Management Program (SEMP) of the Ministry of Environment and Forest and UNDP.