By Office of Communications and Public Affairs
Dr. Saurabh Biswas has joined the Faculty of Climate Change and Sustainability at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) as an Assistant Professor of Climate Change at the Climate Change, Disaster and Urban Sustainability (CCDUS) program. He holds a Ph.D. in Sustainability from Arizona State University (USA) and a Master’s degree in Energy Systems Engineering from the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, India.
An interdisciplinary researcher, Dr. Biswas examines how technological systems, climate change, and social structures interact to shape vulnerabilities and risks for communities. His work focuses on energy transitions, equitable urban infrastructure, grassroots innovation, and evidence-based policymaking. With research and collaborations spanning Asia, Africa, and the Americas, he brings a global perspective on community-centered solutions to climate and development challenges.
Prior to joining AIT, he was a Research Fellow at the University of Saskatchewan (Canada) and a Staff Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (USA). In this interview, Dr. Biswas shares his research journey, perspectives on climate resilience, and his vision for teaching and research at AIT.
1. What motivated you to join the Asian Institute of Technology and CCDUS program?
AIT is one of the few institutions in Asia that strives to go beyond disciplinary boundaries in research and education, and the CCDUS program strongly reflects this aspiration. My interactions with the CCDUS faculty members before joining AIT reassured me that I would be part of an academic environment where creative and collaborative work is encouraged.
The cosmopolitan environment of the AIT campus was another important factor. I believe that diversity of ideas and worldviews is a precondition for innovation and advancing knowledge. Being among fellow researchers and students from across Asia was one crucial factor in my decision to join.
Collaborations, interdisciplinary thinking, and engagement with diverse cultures are key aspects of scholarship that are socially relevant and actionable. This is something I am passionate about, and I felt AIT and CCDUS would provide the right environment to pursue this ambition.
2. Your research explores the intersection of technological systems, climate change, and societal vulnerabilities. Why is it important to address these dimensions together when responding to climate risks?
Human society and the natural environment are deeply interconnected. We intuitively understand that the environment shapes how people live, while human actions, in turn, impact the environment. At the same time, societies innovate and deploy technologies and infrastructure that further modify these interactions.
As a result, society, the environment, and technologies continuously influence one another in complex ways. This interconnectedness gives rise to multiple challenges that threaten human well-being, broadly known as the Nexus.
One example is how climate change leads to different forms of vulnerability across people and places. Rising temperature, floods, droughts, etc., are magnified and distributed by the existing infrastructures and technologies that were not designed for these changing conditions. Moreover, solutions that fail to consider these interconnections can create new vulnerabilities.
We see this in the insufficiencies of existing energy systems, transportation infrastructures, food systems and healthcare delivery, etc., which deepen economic insecurity, social injustice, and the urban-rural divides. My research aims to understand these underlying mechanisms and develop sustainable solutions that can address and transform these complex interlinkages.
3. You have worked on energy transitions and infrastructure access across different regions. What lessons from these experiences could be particularly relevant for Asia?
One of the most urgent needs for sustainable transitions in energy and public infrastructures is overcoming the knowledge gap on place-specific transition pathways. Each place has unique needs and priorities, requiring carefully designed solutions.
These solutions should not simply address narrow challenges like providing energy access, but should contribute to broader social, economic, and environmental well-being. There is a significant opportunity for researchers, policymakers, businesses, public utilities, and funding agencies to reorient their approach and better incorporate the nuance of place in meaningful sustainability transitions. I explore these ideas with several co-authors in an upcoming edited volume coming out soon.
Another key opportunity is in building anticipatory decision-making and governance capacities among stakeholders. Reactive planning often has the opposite effect on transitions, fixing symptoms but taking attention away from fundamental issues. Stakeholders across the spectrum, local to global, need to engage in planning processes with foresight.
These lessons are especially relevant for Asia, given its historical dependency on Western funding models and development frameworks. Overcoming this challenge will unlock immense potential for climate-friendly socioeconomic development. However, it requires strong investments in research, participatory governance, and planning, rooted in local realities and aspirations.
4. Community-based research is central to your work. How can collaboration with local communities, civil society, and governments lead to more effective and sustainable climate solutions?
From my perspective, the planet does not need humans to survive; humans need the planet. Climate solutions are ultimately about enabling people to live with the consequences of a changing climate. The actions that led us to the current crisis were non-consultative, overlooked equity and justice, and prioritized maximum profit extraction at the expense of planetary health and human well-being. I consider this a crisis of choice.
We cannot expect to address the climate challenge by relying on the same decision-making processes that brought us here in the first place. Collaborative problem exploration, goal setting, design, and decision-making are therefore essential to sustainable climate solutions. It is time for our governance and policymaking processes to reflect the reality that climate change is fundamentally a social problem, with no single ‘silver bullet’ solution.
Building evidence from the ground up, incorporating local knowledge and lived experiences, and leveraging both formal and informal institutions are key strengths of community-based research. These approaches make the pursuit of sustainable futures realistic.
5. You have worked with research institutions and partners across several countries. How do international collaborations help advance research and innovation in sustainable development?
Collaboration is not simply a preference, but an essential condition for research and innovation in sustainable development. Cross-border collaborations bring together diverse knowledge and analytical perspectives, creates opportunities for comparative insights, and enables the exploration of governance best practices. Collaborations also encourage researchers to question their own assumptions and biases, opening up new possibilities for innovation.
For example, in 2021, I co-founded the Let Communities Lead initiative, a knowledge repository that collects and compiles stories of local sustainability initiatives from around the world. The initiative involves co-founders from Universities in the United States and Germany, along with contributors from over 20 countries.
Its publications have been featured in documentary films and are being used as teaching materials at universities. This initiative demonstrates how collaboration can expand both the reach and impact of research through diverse contributors and audiences.
6. As a new faculty member at AIT, what research directions or initiatives are you most excited to pursue?
I am excited to continue my previous research while also exploring new directions.
One key focus is expanding my research on the Nexus by exploring local mechanisms that create vulnerabilities in different contexts, such as urban neighborhoods, peri-urban settlements, and agriculture-dependent villages. I have received a grant from AIT to establish a Nexus lab, and I am currently assembling a team of student researchers. Our initial work will focus on neighborhoods in Bangkok.
Another area that I am keen to continue working on is the development of decision-making and anticipatory planning capacities among Civil Society Organizations, grassroots entrepreneurs, and local government units engaged in sustainable local development. By developing a database of actionable evidence, analytical tools, and information visualization platforms, the goal is to enhance the ability of resource-constrained entities to act as more effective agents of change in their communities.
And finally, a relatively new area of interest for me is understanding the use and potential misuse of generative AI tools in infrastructure design and planning. I am particularly interested in anticipating how this trend may create both opportunities and risks for all those involved.
7. What advice would you offer to students and young researchers who are interested in working in the fields of climate change, energy transition, and sustainable development?
In a nutshell, be bold in your pursuit of knowledge. These knowledge domains are constantly evolving and require going beyond disciplinary boundaries and challenging entrenched assumptions. Let curiosity guide you, and do not be afraid to explore ideas that may seem to contradict what you have learnt before. This is what makes this field so exciting.
Becoming a researcher or practitioner in climate change, energy transitions, or sustainable development is not just about acquiring a set of skills or tools. It is mostly about being an independent thinker who can synthesize knowledge, communicate it effectively, and continue to evolve alongside the challenges being investigated.
Some useful practices include building a network of peers who share similar interests, actively engaging with new developments in related fields, and expanding one’s geographical perspective by learning from experiences and innovations in different parts of the world.
