Bamboo Society of India (BSI) and Council of Architecture (COA) have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to mainstream bamboo in building sector. The MoU aims at introducing bamboo, an agro product, as a mainstream material for building and related sectors for all kinds of buildings, infrastructure, rural development etc through awareness programmes, seminars, workshops, short courses etc.

 

“The Government has directed COA to include bamboo in Architecture curriculum. Hence, this MoU is a significant step towards this goal for mainstreaming bamboo in the construction sector, and a big leap towards sustainable development,” said Sunil Joshi, member of National Governing Council of BSI and former Chairman, BSI, Maharashtra Chapter. The MoU was signed by Habeeb Khan, President, COA, Delhi; and Neelam Manjunath, Chairman, Steering Committee, Architects, BSI (HQ), Bangalore. The key to development and success of any sector is quality human resource generation through education, training and skilling. The MoU has been signed towards this endeavour. The five main areas of collaboration envisaged are identification of research priority areas and networking for bamboo as a mainstream building material, developing centre for bamboo technology and design development; education, skill development and training of faculty, students through course development, training programmes and skilling workshops; initiate and support student projects in research and design development in the identified priority areas. documentation of traditional knowledge; dissemination through publications in print and media, exhibitions, seminar and conferences; and material resource and linkages for availability of bamboo and bamboo-based knowledge and technologies for the industry.

 

The MoU takes into consideration the traditional knowledge of rural and tribal communities and aims at utilising them and providing livelihood security through developing bamboo sector. The other objectives include human resource generation for bamboo building sector through structured courses of varying durations and levels in various modes to fulfil ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives of the Government of India. Further it aims at developing ‘innovative, contextual, and practical knowledge’ to design appropriate and unique structures to give required impetus to bamboo-based buildings. As per the MoU, BSI will participate and manage the COA Centre for Bamboo Technology and Design Development at various locations.

 

These centres will have classrooms, well-equipped workshops building with treatment and processing facility, demonstration, and exhibition area including open ground for experiments. Importantly, BSI will develop course content of various levels and durations for building sector, that is, architects and other building professionals from nursery plantation to material properties, engineering, design, and applications in architecture and product development for building sector for inclusion in under-graduate and post-graduate levels with approval and consent of COA. According to Joshi, construction sector, considered as a benchmark of development, is the biggest contributor to the increasing carbon emissions and global warming. Architects, scientists, researchers, policy makers etc are trying to find solution to keep the much needed pace of development in developing countries without increasing emissions. Bamboo is one such very important solution. It is available in plenty, grows fast, processed easily, needs cheap labour and minimal transportation in populated tropics and sub-tropics that need more development. Bamboo is capable of contributing to 13 of 17 UN-Sustainable Development.