About AAETI

The Anil Agarwal Environment Training Institute (AAETI), an education and training initiative and innovation centre of CSE, began operations in 2017 to communicate the science, complexity and politics of environment across India, South Asia and the world. The Institute has been designed to look for and find appropriate and affordable solutions to some of the most pressing problems faced by the Global South — from climate change, air pollution and urban mobility to water and waste management and environmental degradation. 

Named after CSE’s late founder-director Anil Agarwal, it seeks to build a constituency and cadre of knowledgeable, skilled and committed environmentalists – from among decision-makers, regulators, field-level practitioners, students, civil society groups, journalists, lawyers, and concerned citizens. 

As part of this mandate, AAETI serves as a research, academic and capacity-building hub that conducts a number of short- and long-term courses and training programmes. These range from technical workshops on how to build rainwater harvesting systems and decentralised wastewater treatment structures to policy briefings on ecological poverty and food safety, and hands-on training on environmental communication, information management and advocacy. Other training programmes – such as on environment impact assessment (EIA) or on urban mobility -- seek to actively engage with industry representatives and regulators in the country and across the developing world. 

The courses involve classroom lectures, seminars and local field excursions, along with innovative, challenging individual and/or group project work. The core faculty is drawn from CSE’s experienced research and programme staff, while guest lecturers include development professionals, eminent environmentalists, noted academicians, grassroots activists and prominent policy makers, among others.

The AAETI campus is located in Tijara, Nimli, near Alwar in Rajasthan), at a distance of about 100 km from Delhi, and takes about two-and-half hours (by road) to reach from CSE’s main office in Delhi. Its lush green 11-acre area comprises of state-of-art learning and training facilities, including fully equipped lecture classrooms with overhead projectors, wireless connectivity throughout the buildings, seminar and conference rooms etc. The campus also has some key green building features including energy-saving architectural design, rainwater harvesting systems, renewable energy infrastructure, solid waste management systems, and a decentralised wastewater treatment system. The campus houses CSE’s environment monitoring laboratory, which is designed as India’s first faecal sludge testing centre. 

AAETI’s residential quarters are well-furnished and comfortable, and its cafeteria serves a variety of delectable vegetarian and non-vegetarian fare.