Universal design is an emerging concept in India, the roots of which are grounded in democracy, equal opportunity and self reliance. Supporting its ethos ingrained in the social opportunities, the institute has embraced the concept as one of its priority academic areas and established a Center for Human Centric Research at the institute. The CHCR regularly explores the innovative ways to teach universal design in the country. This book presents one such initiative called National Student Design Competition 'Universal Design for Exploring the Word Heritage Sites in India. The overall aim of which was to develop imaginative design solutions for universal usability of the physical environment at the World Heritage Sites, retaining their authenticity and integrity. The book includes select design examples as open ended outcomes of the competition which was floated for universal design education. The universal design examples included in the book would benefit student community, universal design educators as well as all those professionals who work on the heritage sites. The foreword of the book is written by Prof, Abir Mullica, who is internationally acclaimed for his inclusive design work. He is one of the authors of the Seven Principles of Universal Design (NC State University, USA), and led a team of Indian experts to develop Universal Design India Princi¬ples (©NID).

All over the world, cities are major contributors to Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and the same is true for the cities in India. In pursuit of environment friendly development, many cities in various parts of the world have attempted to design and implement climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Developing low carbon cities is a step in that direction.
Developing Low Carbon Society (LCS) studies at city level gives a platform where researchers interact with stakeholders and policymakers to integrate their knowledge and build relevant scenarios for transition towards LCS. The LCS roadmaps thus achieved will help in integration of development activities, prioritize investments in urban infrastructure, and provide incentives for use of innovative technologies to improve efficiency. Another important contribution will be to promote behavioral and lifestyle changes.

The acronym SPANDREL in its expanded form is - Journal of SPA: New Dimensions in Research of Environments for Living, published by School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal a premier institute of Government of India.
Sustainable design solutions through research and enquiry form the basis of the education system of the School. This journal hopes to put forward frontier research in varied disciplines which would enrich our understanding of our environments and help to become more empathetic and sensitive as professionals entrusted with the responsibility of shaping the future of built forms.
The acronym SPANDREL also signifies an architectural element of vital importance in history. By definition it means "the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure".

The Global studio was conducted in School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal in collaboration with United Nations University – Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability and Madhya Pradesh State Biodiversity Board from 17th May 2012 to 31st May 2012 . Fifty students, twelve in-house faculty members, experts from Bhopal and field knowledge participated.
The Global studio – LBSAP SPA Bhopal 2012 had the prime objective to study the biodiversity of the city of Bhopal and propose local strategies and action plan for biodiversity conservation. Global Studio focused on sustainable use of the components of biological diversity including conservation of biological diversity and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic.