APSCC participated in the United States Environmental Protection Agency's 9th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo (NSDE) — held on the National Mall in Washington D.C., in the shadow of the US Capitol and the Washington Monument.
Set against one of the most iconic civic landscapes in the world, the Expo transformed the National Mall into an open-air laboratory of ideas. More than 400 university students, scientists, and engineers — drawn from the fields of engineering, sciences, law, economics, and architecture — gathered to present their work and exchange perspectives on building a more sustainable future.
Innovation on display
The Expo was a showcase of bold, practical thinking. Among the innovations on display were designs for high-rise urban farms that reimagine how cities feed themselves, and solar cookers engineered not only to prepare food but to generate power — turning everyday sunlight into a dual-purpose resource.
These projects reflected a shared conviction: that the tools to address climate change and resource scarcity already exist, waiting to be refined, scaled, and adopted.
The EPA's People, Prosperity and Planet (P3) Program
A centrepiece of the Expo was the EPA's People, Prosperity, and Planet (P3) Program — a national initiative that challenges student teams to design solutions balancing the needs of people, economic prosperity, and the planet. Several standout P3 projects captured the spirit of the event:
Each project demonstrated how research grounded in real communities can yield technologies that are both economically viable and environmentally regenerative.
APSCC's contribution
For APSCC, the Expo was a threefold opportunity: to showcase India's sustainability initiatives to an international audience, to learn and collaborate with peers advancing the frontier of sustainable design, and to inspire action — carrying home ideas that could take root across campuses and communities.
The National Mall — a symbol of civic aspiration — became, for a few days, a place where the next generation's aspirations for the planet were on full display.
Advancing the Global Goals
APSCC's participation in the NSDE connected directly to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals — reinforcing the organisation's commitment to quality education, clean energy, resilient infrastructure, responsible consumption, and climate action.
