Working with government and public institutions

SDG 16.4Working with government and public institutions

UPES advises government at local, state and national level, trains officials, researches policy with government departments, and offers a neutral space where people with different views can discuss hard questions.

This work spans local, regional and national government.

• Expert advice to government. In January 2017 UPES signed an MoU with NITI Aayog for consultative policy dialogue and research on energy-efficiency policy, including a national framework and better state capacity and evaluation, and UPES made a formal submission to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board on gas market regulation. Source: MoU between NITI Aayog and UPES (Newsvoir), UPES response to PNGRB (PDF).

  See also: MoU with SETU Aayog for a Public Law and Policy Lab, Psychology meets public policy in Events and activities.

  economictimes.indiatimes.com

  

• Advice to state government. The UDAAI Monsoon Report 2025 called on the Uttarakhand government to act on disaster resilience, with recommendations on early warning, glacial monitoring and a unified Himalayan resilience policy. Source: UDAAI Monsoon Report 2025 (Garhwal Post), SDCF, UPES and SCLHR report to the Uttarakhand government (HimbuMail).

  See also: Disaster governance and recovery in Japan in Events and activities.

  garhwalpost.in

  

• Research with government. UPES carries out policy-focused research with the Department of Science and Technology and UNDP on community resilience, with DRDO on energy storage for remote microgrids, and with the Indian Council of Medical Research on arsenic and pesticide exposure and health in the Gangetic plains of Bihar. Source: UPES and the DST–UNDP Community Resilience Resource Centres (Garhwal Post), UPES wins DRDO-funded project.

  garhwalpost.in

  

• Training for officials. UPES ran a workshop for Uttarakhand Police trainee officers on communication and skills, and an intellectual property workshop for MSMEs and start-ups with Startup Uttarakhand and UCOST on 3 September 2025. Source: DSO Community Engagement & Social Impact Report, UPES R&D Newsletter, July–December 2025 (IPR workshop).

  upes.ac.in (PDF)

  

• Regulators and judges on campus. In April 2025 the Competition Commission of India, with its Chairperson as keynote speaker, held a regional workshop on competition law at UPES. The 2024 conference on environmental and energy law, held with the Uttarakhand Forest Department and Pollution Control Board, brought in advocates and judicial officers from seven High Courts. Source: Regional Workshop on Competition Law with CCI (LinkedIn).

  See also: Balancing judicial accountability and independence, Regional Workshop on Competition Law with the CCI in Events and activities.

  

• Constitutional values. Vidhi Utsav, the UPES law festival, has hosted Justice U. C. Dhyani, former judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, and Anil Raturi, Chairman of the Uttarakhand Right to Service Commission, on the Preamble as the soul of the Constitution, and Constitution Week 2025 featured a retired judge as keynote. Source: Justice U. C. Dhyani at Vidhi Utsav 2025 (LinkedIn), Anil Raturi at Vidhi Utsav 2025 (LinkedIn).

  See also: Justice U.C. Dhyani at Vidhiutsav 2025, Prof Peter Crisp at Vidhiutsav 2025, Radha Raturi at the Vidhi Symposium, Vidhi Symposium on environmental law, Vidhi Symposium: the Preamble as the soul of the Constitution, Vidhi Utsav 2024, Vidhi Utsav 2025 opens with Dr Subramanian Swamy, Vidhi Utsav 2026 in Events and activities.

  

• A neutral platform. Forums such as Himalaya Calling, the Energy Summit, the Sustainability Fair, the UPES International Model United Nations and Vidhi Utsav debates bring government, regulators, civil society, industry and students together to discuss contested issues openly. Source: 10th UPES International MUN (MyMUN), Governor inaugurates Himalaya Calling 2025 (Lok Bhavan Uttarakhand).

  mymun.com

  

• Young people in policymaking. The School of Business and the Centre for Public Policy and Good Governance held a youth consultation for the Viksit Uttarakhand 2047 vision, and the annual UPES International Model United Nations lets students negotiate global issues. Source: How UPES is contributing to the SDGs.

  See also: Youth Consultation for Viksit Uttarakhand 2047 in Events and activities.

  

• Law in the Himalaya. At Himalaya Calling 2025, the School of Law led a session with an NHRC advisory group member and UNDP on climate policy and law for the Himalaya, and a session on empowering women through law in the Himalaya with Prof Alexander Sorokin of the Saint Petersburg School of Social Sciences and Prof Rattan Singh, Vice Chancellor of Jagat Guru Nanak Dev Punjab State Open University. Source: Governor inaugurates Himalaya Calling 2025 (Lok Bhavan Uttarakhand).

  See also: Himalaya Calling global summit in Events and activities.